# 2018–19 Sam Houston State Bearkats men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Sam Houston State Bearkats men's basketball team represent Sam Houston State University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bearkats are led by ninth-year head coach Jason Hooten and play their home games at the Bernard Johnson Coliseum in Huntsville, Texas as members of the Southland Conference. They finished the season 21-12, 16-2 in Southland play to finish in 1st place. As the No. 1 seed in the Southland tournament, they lost to New Orleans in the semifinals. They received an automatic bid to the NIT where they lost in the first round to TCU.

## Previous season

The Bearkats finished the 2017–18 season 21–15, 12–6 in Southland play to finish in fourth place. They defeated New Orleans in the quarterfinals of the Southland tournament before losing in the semifinals to Southeastern Louisiana. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where, after a first round bye, they defeated Eastern Michigan in the second round and UTSA in the quarterfinals before losing in the semifinals to Northern Colorado.

## Roster

Sources:

## Offseason

Source:

### 2018–19 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| RJ Smith PG | Olathe, KS | North HS / Butler CC / Oral Roberts | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Kai Mitchell G | Haverstraw, NY | Spring Valley HS / Hutchinson CC | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 245 lb (111 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 66 ||||||
| Zaqwaun Matthews G | Charlotte, NC | Myers Park HS / Cape Fear CC / Chattanooga | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Chad Bowie G | Houston, TX | Fort Bend HS / Kilgore College | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: ||||||

## Schedule and results

Sources:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 6, 2018* 6:30 pm, BSN YouTube | | East Texas Baptist | W 85–64 | 1–0 | Bernard Johnson Coliseum (1,019) Huntsville, TX |
| Nov 8, 2018* 6:30 pm, ESPN3 | | Southwestern | W 94–56 | 2–0 | Bernard Johnson Coliseum (1,194) Huntsville, TX |
| Nov 11, 2018* 4:00 pm | | at Louisiana Tech | L 69–76 | 2–1 | Thomas Assembly Center (2,349) Ruston, LA |
| Nov 14, 2018* 6:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | at No. 19 Clemson Cayman Islands Classic campus-site | L 59–74 | 2–2 | Littlejohn Coliseum (6,227) Clemson, SC |
| Nov 16, 2018* 6:00 pm, SECN+ | | at Georgia Cayman Islands Classic campus-site | L 64–75 | 2–3 | Stegeman Coliseum (7,195) Athens, GA |
| Nov 19, 2018* 3:00 pm | | vs. Jackson State Cayman Islands Classic campus-site | W 75–60 | 3–3 | Freedom Hall Civic Center Johnson City, TN |
| Nov 20, 2018* 6:00pm, ESPN3 | | at East Tennessee State Cayman Islands Classic campus-site | L 63–77 | 3–4 | Freedom Hall Civic Center (3,203) Johnson City, TN |
| Nov 28, 2018* 6:30 pm, ESPN+ | | Central Michigan | L 65–81 | 3–5 | Bernard Johnson Coliseum (754) Huntsville, TX |
| Dec 1, 2018* 3:00 pm | | at Little Rock | L 52–79 | 3–6 | Jack Stephens Center (1,777) Little Rock, AR |
| Dec 8, 2018* 3:00 pm, MWN | | at Colorado State | L 65–71 | 3–7 | Moby Arena (2,298) Fort Collins, CO |
| Dec 18, 2018* 6:30 pm | | Alabama State | W 78–57 | 4–7 | Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum (625) Huntsville, TX |
| Dec 22, 2018* 3:00 pm | | at Utah Valley | L 79–85 | 4–8 | UCCU Center (1,920) Orem, UT |
| Dec 31, 2018* 2:00 pm | | Texas Lutheran | W 84–54 | 5–8 | Bernard Johnson Coliseum Huntsville, TX |
| Southland regular season ||||||
| Jan 5, 2019 6:30 pm | | Abilene Christian | W 71-68 | 6–8 (1–0) | Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum (771) Huntsville, TX |
| Jan 9, 2019 6:30 pm | | at Central Arkansas | W 78–69 | 7–8 (2–0) | Farris Center (575) Conway, AR |
| Jan 12, 2019 5:30 pm | | Incarnate Word | W 66–52 | 8–8 (3–0) | Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum (703) Huntsville, TX |
| Jan 16, 2019 6:30 pm | | Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | W 72–50 | 9–8 (4–0) | Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum (855) Huntsville, TX |
| Jan 19, 2019 7:00 pm | | at Houston Baptist | W 71–65 | 10–8 (5–0) | Sharp Gymnasium (948) Houston, TX |
| Jan 23, 2019 6:30 pm | | at Northwestern State | W 78–64 | 11–8 (6–0) | Prather Coliseum (1,501) Natchitoches, LA |
| Jan 26, 2019 5:30 pm | | Lamar | W 69–59 | 12–8 (7–0) | Bernard Johnson Coliseum Huntsville, TX |
| Jan 30, 2019 7:00 pm | | at Southeastern Louisiana | W 62–52 | 13–8 (8–0) | University Center (1,029) Hammond, LA |
| Feb 2, 2019 7:00 pm | | Stephen F. Austin | W 94–72 | 14–8 (9–0) | Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum (3,134) Huntsville, TX |
| Feb 6, 2019 6:30 pm | | McNeese State | W 77–62 | 15–8 (10–0) | Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum (1,193) Huntsville, TX |
| Feb 9, 2019 6:00 pm | | at Abilene Christian | W 90–85 $^{2OT}$ | 16–8 (11–0) | Moody Coliseum (2,397) Abilene, TX |
| Feb 13, 2019 7:00 pm | | at Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | W 70–69 | 17–8 (12–0) | American Bank Center (1,118) Corpus Christi, TX |
| Feb 16, 2019 4:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Lamar | L 72–75 | 17–9 (12–1) | Montagne Center (2,822) Beaumont, TX |
| Feb 20, 2019 6:30 pm | | Nicholls State | W 84–74 $^{OT}$ | 18–9 (13–1) | Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum (1,393) Huntsville, TX |
| Feb 23, 2019 7:00 pm | | Houston Baptist | W 119–113 $^{2OT}$ | 19–9 (14–1) | Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum (1,350) Huntsville, TX |
| Feb 27, 2019 7:00 pm | | at New Orleans | W 71–60 | 20–9 (15–1) | Lakefront Arena (852) New Orleans, LA |
| Mar 6, 2019 6:30 pm | | Central Arkansas | L 87–91 | 20–10 (15–2) | Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum (1,167) Huntsville, TX |
| Mar 9, 2019 4:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Stephen F. Austin | W 68–57 | 21–10 (16–2) | William R. Johnson Coliseum (5,464) Nacogdoches, TX |
| Southland tournament ||||||
| Mar 15, 2019 5:00pm, ESPN+ | (1) | vs. (4) New Orleans Semifinals | L 76–79 | 21–11 | Leonard E. Merrell Center Katy, TX |
| NIT tournament ||||||
| Mar 20, 2019* 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | (8) | at (1) TCU First round – TCU bracket | L 69–82 | 21–12 | Schollmaier Arena Fort Worth, TX |
| *Non-conference game. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||