Bearkats Looking Forward To Face Hoosiers
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Sam Houston takes on the No. 1 men’s basketball team in the nation Thursday as they challenge the Indiana Hoosiers at 6 p.m. (Central time) in Bloomington, Ind.
Indiana (2-0) hosts Sam Houston (1-1) in the Bloomington Regional of the Progressive Legends Classic.
The game will be televised on the Big 10 network with Eric Collins and Jim Jackson calling the action.
KSAM 101.7 FM will carry the action live on radio and the internet in the Huntsville area.
Next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the Bearkats will welcome Southern Mississippi, UC-Irvine and Liberty to Huntsville for a Progressive Legends Classic sub-regional.
The tournament will consist of doubleheaders each evening starting at 5 p.m. with the Kats hosting the nightcap each day.
The Hoosiers are 4-0 all-time against Southland Conference opponents with the last meeting coming in November, 2010 when IU beat Northwestern State, 100-66.
For the first time since the 1979-80 preseason and just for the third time in school history (1975-76), the Indiana men’s basketball team started the season as the top ranked team in the country.
Indiana was also picked by the Big Ten media to win the conference championship.
The Hoosiers return the same starting lineup they finished their season with last year.
The group helped lead IU to a 27-9 record as they earned the program’s first trip to the Sweet 16 since 2002 and just the second berth in the round of 16 since 1995.
“It’s exciting to have the opportunity to play one of the most storied programs in NCAA men’s basketball,” Sam Houston head coach Jason Hooten said.
“Right now, we’re just working on becoming a better basketball team. It’s going to be a great experience playing the Hoosiers.”
Indiana was ranked 16th by the Associated Press and 13th in the final USA Today/Coaches poll.
Using the formula on how the NCAA ranks a teams’ improvement from one year to the next, IU had a 15 1/2-game improvement in the standings from 2010-11, the seventh largest in NCAA history.
The Hoosiers also rank 11th with 1,692 wins all-time.
After finishing 140th in the country last season in scoring off the bench (18.9 ppg), the Hoosier depth could challenge for the nation’s best after scoring 77 points in the first two games.
Sophomore Remy Abell and freshman Jeremy Hollowell are averaging 13.0 points per game, while Will Sheehey is averaging 9.5.After two games, the Hoosiers have a 14.5 rebound per game edge on its opponents.
Last year at the same time, opponents had outrebounded IU by 1.5 per game.
The Hoosiers are averaging 32 free throw attempts per game. Last year, IU led all Big Six Conference teams making 18.2 charity tosses per game.
The Progressive Legends Classic features 12 teams from across the nation with top-ranked Indiana, No. 13 UCLA, Georgetown, and Georgia serving as regional hosts.
Regional action takes place from Nov. 11-15 with the four hosts advancing to the Championship Rounds, Nov. 19-20, at the brand new Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
The remainder of the field will participate in Subregionals held in Pittsburgh, Pa., and Huntsville, Texas, Nov. 19-21.
Joining the four Regional Round hosts in the Progressive Legends Classic are Duquesne, James Madison, Liberty, North Dakota State, Sam Houston State, Southern Miss, UC Irvine, and Youngstown.
SHSU Bearkats Remains At No.3 In Both Polls
by Cheval D. John
After the Bearkat football team clinching a share of the Southland Conference (SLC) title with a 52-17 beat down of Northwestern State Demons in Natchitoches last Saturday, they remain at No.3 in both the FCS Sports Network Polls and the NCAA Coaches Polls this week.
The Bearkats completed their conference schedule with a 6-1 record.
Central Arkansas clinched the SLC title the week before with a 35-14 win over the Demons at Estes Stadium in Conway, Arkansas and also finished conference play with a 6-1 record.
The Bears received the automatic bid into the NCAA FCS playoffs due to their head-to-head win over the Bearkats earlier in the season.
This marks the 22nd week that the Bearkats have been nationally ranked in the top 25 and the 19th time they have been in the top 10.
Both North Dakota State and Montana State remains at No.1 and No.2 respectively, after both teams won their matchups last week.
The Bearkats will finish their season in a non-conference matchup with Football Bowl Series (FBS) opponent Texas A&M on Saturday at Kyle Field in College Station.
The Aggies are coming off a huge 28-24 upset win over the previous No.1 University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa this past weekend.
To see the FCS rankings, click here.
Wells-Gibson Earns SLC’s “Player of The Week”
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Sam Houston State’s Deveney Wells-Gibson has been named as Southland Conference volleyball “offensive player of the week” after leading the Kats to home victories over McNeese State and Lamar to help SHSU clinch its first regular season league title since 1994.
Wells-Gibson averaged 4.78 kills per set and totaled 49 points for the week.
The San Antonio, Texas (Churchill H.S.), native chipped in with 29 digs and produced double figure kills in each match.
The sophomore outside hitter is second in the conference with 4.06 kills per set while the Bearkats clinched a share of the regular season title Saturday.
Sam Houston State will be making its sixth consecutive Southland Conference post-season tournament appearance and its 18th trip to the event overall.
The Bearkats won the Southland post-season tournament in 1993 and 1996 and finished as runner-up in 1987.
Sam Houston is the No. 2 seed at this year’s event hosted by Central Arkansas in Conway.
The Kats begin action against No. 7 seed Nicholls at 11 a.m. Friday.
The semifinals will be played Saturday with the championship finals on Sunday.
The tournament winner represents the Southland Conference in the NCAA national volleyball championships.
Bearkat Bowlers Wins Second Tournament
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
The Sam Houston women’s bowling team earned its second tournament championship in three tries Sunday, taking the title at the Hornet Invitational in Montgomery, Alabama.
After going 5-0 on Saturday in tradition team matches, the Bearkats won all three best of seven baker contests Sunday. Sam Houston averaged 200.9 pins on the final day of action and boasted a 198.0 overall pin average for the event.
The tournament was played at the Brunswick Zone bowling lanes.
Earlier this season, Sam Houston won the Tulane Invitational and was the runner-up in their second outing at the Bethune-Cookman tournament in Florida.
The Kats now stand 26-5 in dual matches this season.
“Today was another great day for us,” head coach Brad Hagen said. ” I can’t be more happy with all of the right things we’re doing in tournament play. All the hard work and hours these girls are putting in on the lanes are really paying dividends.”
Saturday’s 5-0 performance marked the third tournament in a row for the No. 8 ranked Bearkats to go unbeaten on the first day of competition.
SHSU defeated Jackson State 962-832, Alabama State 1034-908, No. 16 Alabama A&M 1005-977, Tulane 1027-826 and Alabama-Birmingham 922-809.
Sunday, Sam Houston came back from 3-1 down to defeat Alabama A&M 4-3 then knocked off Tulane 4-1 and Alabama State 4-1.
Following Sunday’s final round, the Kats stood in first place followed by Alabama State in second, Alabama A&M in third, Ala-Birmingham fourth, Tulane fifth and Jackson State sixth.
In traditional team play Saturday, Kimi Davidson of Sam Houston produced the top individual performance with a 232.6 average in five matches.
Other Bearkat scores and standings included Neishka Cardona second 215.2, Michelle Secours sixth 196.6, Anna Groce 10th 184.0, Becca Pittser 29th 163.0 and Erin Brown 33rd 159.5.
No.3 Kats Clinched Second Straight SLC Title
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Natchitoches, Louisiana-Timothy Flanders, Brian Bell and Trey Diller combined to lead the offense and the Bearkat defense remained tough as well as Sam Houston State rolled to a 52-17 victory over Northwestern State Saturday.
The win gives Sam Houston State their second consecutive Southland Conference regular season football championship, a feat unequaled in the Bearkats’ 26 seasons in the league.
Sam Houston and Central Arkansas stand as co-champions, both with 6-1 league records.
The No. 3 ranked Bearkats upped their season record to 8-2.
Flanders produced the 22nd 100-yard rushing performance of his career, carrying 17 times for 138 yards including scoring runs of 56 and 4 yards.
Bell completed 17 of 23 passes for 239 yards and three touchdowns.
Diller caught seven of those passes for 119 yards and a score.
The Kat defense allowed Northwestern State only 141 total yards and 42 on the ground.
The Sam Houston offense rolled up 509 total yards (253 rushing and 256 passing).
The championship marks Sam Houston’s fifth Southland football title.
The Bearkats also won championships in 1991, 2001, 2004 and 2011.
After being forced to punt on their first two possessions, the Bearkats got rolling on a seven play 93-yard drive with Flanders scoring on a 56-run through the right side at the 3:07 mark in the first quarter.
The run marked the ninth time in his career Flanders has scored a touchdown of more than 50 yards.
Ed Eagan returned the kickoff 82 yards to tie the game 7-7 ten seconds later.
Miguel Antonio gave the Bearkats a 10-7 lead with just 21 seconds into the second quarter after a 10-play 55-yard drive.
Sam Houston reached the five-yard line on the drive but was moved back to the 20-yard line by a personal foul penalty.
A quarterback sack by Robert Shaw forced Northwestern State to punt from its end zone against the wind on the next Demon possession.
On the first play after the punt, Bell found tight end T. J. Jones open over the middle for a 50-yard touchdown as SHSU went up 17-7 with 12:08 to play in the half.
The Bearkat defense came up with the next score.
J. T. Cleveland forced a fumble that pinned the Demons on their own one.
On third down, Bookie Sneed intercepted a Brad Henderson pass and returned the pick 11 yards for a touchdown and a 24-7 lead 7:54 before intermission.
The interception was Sneed’s fourth of the year and his second for a touchdown.
The junior cornerback now has eight career interceptions, tying him for eighth in the all-time SHSU interception standings.
Bell threw 38-yards to Trey Dillar and 10-yards to Chance Nelson for a pair of touchdowns in the final 2:57 of the first half.
The pass to Diller completed a seven play 68-yard drive and Nelson’s catch ended a 10 play 61-yard march.
John Shaughnessy kicked a 27-yard field goal on the last play to make the score at intermission 38-10.
Sam Houston opened the second half with a 14-play 80-yard scoring drive capped off by a four-yard touchdown run by Flanders.
The Bearkats finish their regular season schedule next Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in College Station against Texas A&M.