GAME NOTES: Sam Houston State head coach Jason Hooten aims for his 100th victory with the Bearkats as his squad hosts the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns in the second round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Johnson Coliseum.

The Bearkats have rung up a total of 26 wins to this point in the season for Hooten, with one of those coming against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi during the Southland Conference Tournament last weekend. Unfortunately, the team then fell to champion Stephen F. Austin a week ago by a score of 83-70. Sam Houston State was dropped to the CIT where it defeated UNC-Wilmington in the first round three nights ago, 87-71.

Meanwhile, the Ragin' Cajuns are coached by Bob Marlin who just happened to be the head man at SHSU between 1998-2010, producing a record of 225-131 in 12 seasons with the Bearkats before taking over Louisiana.

Louisiana was 13-7 in Sun Belt Conference play this season, losing to Georgia State during the league tournament last weekend, 83-79. Nevertheless, the Cajuns were still extended an invitation to take part in the CIT and used the opportunity to record their first postseason victory (outside of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament) since 1992 by taking down Incarnate Word, 83-68, in the first round of this event four nights ago.

The Ragin' Cajuns own a slight advantage in the all-time series with SHSU, posting a mark of 8-7 thanks to a 95-85 victory in the most recent meeting back in 2009.

The winner of this game advances to the third round of the tourney next week against an opponent to be determined.

On the road at the McDermott Center earlier this week, the Cajuns forced 16 turnovers and shot an impressive 53.6 percent from the floor as they dismissed Incarnate Word by 15 points. Bryce Washington led the way with 25 points as he converted all but three of his 14 field goal attempts, followed by Hayward Register with 12 points as he knocked down 4-of-8 behind the 3-point line. Shawn Long came up a rebound shy of a double-double as he tallied 11 points, as well as five assists. As a unit, Louisiana had assists on all but six of their 30 baskets.

Long, a starter in all 32 games in which he has appeared, not only leads the Ragin' Cajuns with 16.3 ppg, he is also first with 10.3 rpg and 52 blocked shots, making him one of only a select few averaging a double-double in 2014-15. The scoring burst by Washington in the last outing has to be considered an anomaly, considering he is averaging just 6.3 ppg on the season overall, but the effort was still much-needed since Brian Williams (10.1 ppg) is out with a shoulder injury.

Except for DeMarcus Gatlin who scored just six points in 22 minutes of action, every starter finished in double figures for the Bearkats in the win over UNC- Wilmington, yet it was a reserve who stole the spotlight. Aurimas Majauskas was on the floor for only 19 minutes, but used his time wisely by converting 9-of-11 attempts from the field, including 3-of-4 behind the 3-point line, to come up with a game-high 27 points. Jabari Peters, Kaheem Ransom and Paul Baxter all pitched in with 11 points and at least five rebounds, while Michael Holyfield registered a double-double consisting of 10 points and 11 boards, to go along with four blocked shots.

SHSU has had quite a bit of success this season and has even hung tough with some more notable opponents (UNLV and Texas A&M), working hard at both ends of the floor to make that happen. The Bearkats are generating 74.2 ppg, having converted 156 more free throws than the competition, to help make up for just 43.0 percent shooting from the floor. Gatlin (10.5 ppg), Peters (10.0 ppg) and Ransom (10.0 ppg) are all key figures at the offensive end of the floor, while Holyfield (8.6 ppg, 8.1 rpg, and 84 blocked shots) is a chief reason for the unit allowing only 59.7 ppg on 38.6 percent shooting from the floor.

Even though the Bearkats are taking a step up in competition from what they are used to, they still have the talent and drive to keep moving forward in this event.