Kats to host Islanders on Wednesday
Game 17
Wednesday, Jan. 16 • Huntsville • 6:30 p.m. • Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum (6,100)
Sam Houston State (8-8, 3-0 Southland) vs Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (7-9, 2-1 Southland)
Live Stats • ESPN3 • @BearkatsMBB on Twitter • Purchase Tickets
HUNTSVILLE – The Sam Houston State Bearkats are off to a 3-0 start in Southland Conference play, but will face arguably their toughest league test to date on Wednesday when they host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.
The game is set to tip off at 6:30 p.m. at Johnson Coliseum and can be watched on the ESPN3 with Matt Pedersen calling the game and Matt Trent providing analysis. Fans can follow along via live stats, or get updates by following @BearkatsMBB on Twitter.
Sam Houston will be looking for its first 4-0 start in the league since the 2015-16 season and still stand as the lone team in the SLC without a loss. That comes in part to a 66-52 comeback win on Saturday over UIW in which the Kats forced 15 second-half turnovers and got a career-high 25 points from Cameron Delaney in the game.
Coach Jason Hooten’s team continues to find sparks from all parts of the roster with only Delaney and Kai Mitchell having reached double figures in each league game thus far. Mitchell has been incredibly steady of late, averaging 14.0 points and 8.3 rebounds per game while shooting 55.7 percent from the field in his last six contests.
This will serve as a rematch of one of 2017-18’s most entertaining games in Huntsville when the Kats held on 66-64 thanks to a late jumper and a defensive stop from Marcus Harris.
Meanwhile, the Islanders will be the second straight opponent for the Bearkats coming off a league bye slot. They last took the court a week ago at Northwestern State, getting two foul shots from Kareem South with six seconds to play to pull out a 62-61 win at Prather Coliseum and come into Huntsville with a 2-1 league mark.
They rank second in the Southland in scoring defense, holding opponents to just 65.6 points per game and a league-low 40.6 percent shooting from the field. South (12.9 ppg) and Myles Smith (10.4 ppg) have paced the scoring for the Islanders as the only players averaging in double figures.
SERIES vs TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI
Sam Houston owns a 19-9 advantage in the all-time series with the Islanders, including 17-8 with TAMUCC as a member of the Southland Conference. The Bearkats have won each of the last three meetings, including sweeping a two-game series last season in very different fashions. The Kats demolished the Islanders by 32 points in Corpus Christi early in the league season before having to hold on for a 66-64 win in Huntsville less than a week later.
