The Longhorns return to the friendly hardwood of the Frank Erwin Center tonight when they host the Sam Houston State Bearkats. Texas is coming off an impressive performance in New York City, where they knocked off then-13th-ranked Illinois and lost by just two points to a top-five Pittsburgh team. While the Longhorns typically have their share of easy opponents at home in November and December, the Bearkats are just a few months removed from a Southland Conference tournament title and an appearance in the Big Dance.

Sam Houston State will look a little different than they did when they hung with Baylor in the NCAA tourney. They’ve lost their two of their three leading scorers from a season ago, and all of their off-season departures combined to account for more than 53% of last year’s points. In addition, the Bearkats have a new leader at the end of the bench, as Jason Hooten has taken over head coaching duties after six years as an assistant. Sam Houston State’s new-look squad has an untested backcourt and a slew of former role players who now need to step into the limelight. A road game against a top-twenty team should provide quite the test for the Bearkats, who have just a pair of games against NAIA opponents under their belts.

Meet the Bearkats

For the second straight year, SHSU is led in scoring by big man Gilberto Clavell. He’s upped his average slightly to 17.5 PPG through the first two contests, and he logged a double-double in his last game against Northwest Oklahoma State. At 6’7″, he is surprisingly the tallest Bearkat to see significant minutes each game, although the team may be forced to utilize 6’9″ Aaron Thompson more against the bigger Longhorn lineup.

The team’s other returning starter is senior Josten Crow. He tied a career high with 21 points against Mary Hardin-Baylor in the season opener, and is actually leading the team in rebounds despite being a 6’4″ wingman. Crow has 10 rebounds per game so far this season, but should find that task a little bit harder when facing his first NCAA opponent of the year. Texas will also have to keep an eye on Crow when he’s at the perimeter, because while he has only hit 27% of his three-point attempts in the first two games, he did sink more than 40% of his attempts last year.

Lance Pevehouse is the only other Bearkat averaging double-digits in scoring through the first two games. His 11 points per game are nearly double his output as a bench player last season.

Pevehouse is just one of a few guards who are being asked to step up this year following the graduation of seniors Corey Allmond and Ashton Mitchell. Joining him in the backcourt is 5’10” point guard Drae Murray, who is averaging 7.5 PPG so far and has an eye-popping 5-to-1 assist-to-TO ratio.

Providing some extra experience at the guard position are a pair of JuCo transfers, Nafis Richardson and Marcus Williams, who are each averaging more than 23 minutes per game. Richardson, who comes from McClennan JC in Waco, has eight points per game, while Williams has chipped in 6.5 a night.

Last year, the Bearkats were an up-tempo team led by their senior backcourt. The team’s 70.4 possessions per game was top-fifty nationally. While there are no tempo-free stats available on Sam Houston’s first two games against NAIA opponents, don’t be surprised to see much of the same tonight. The Longhorns have been running at a 71.2 possession-per-game pace so far this season, so it could be quite the track meet.

Keys to the game

1) Pressure the guards – With an inexperienced backcourt, Sam Houston State is still working out the kinks in its offense. The team has turned it over 39 times in two games, a number that is high enough on its own, but is even more troublesome when you consider the caliber of the Bearkats’ first two opponents.

Meanwhile, Texas forced just 23 turnovers in its two games at Madison Square Garden, despite having a combined 147 possessions in those two contests. That equates to just a 15% defensive turnover percentage, something that must improve for the Longhorns. Tonight offers an excellent opportunity for the team to do just that.

2) Dominate the inside game – There won’t be many times this season that the Longhorns are expected to dominate the glass and the battle for points in the paint, but tonight is one of those instances. The two teams are comparable in size, but the Longhorns have a very special big man in Tristan Thompson. Add in the fact that the team is committed to getting the ball inside and that the Horns average a +8 rebounding margin, and it’s not hard to see why Texas should be a force inside tonight.

3) Make the free ones – While the odds are incredibly slim for an upset tonight — stat guru Ken Pomeroy gives SHSU a 5% chance of winning — missing free throws is the easiest way to keep a scrappy opponent in the game. Sam Houston was within arm’s reach of a very talented Baylor team for nearly 40 minutes in March, and they could potentially do the same thing against Texas tonight. Making just 62% of their free throw attempts, as the Longhorns have done so far this season, would be one way to leave the door cracked for a talented SHSU squad.