No. 7 Texas hosts Sam Houston State at Gregory Gym

The No. 7 Texas Longhorns host the Sam Houston State Bearkats on Monday evening at Gregory Gymnasium with students-only attendance in the program’s first game at the historic facility since the opening round of the Southwest Conference Tournament in 1977.

Prior to the game, Texas is holding a party at the Tower for students from 4:30 p.m Central to 6:00 with food, drinks, giveaways, and music. At 6:00, head coach Chris Beard will lead the students down to Gregory for a pre-party as the gates open for the game.

Sam Houston State enters the contest at 2-4 with losses to Nebraska, Missouri State, Boston University, and SMU ranking No. 210 in KenPom.com’s adjusted efficiency metric.

Texas A&M transfer Savion Flagg, a 6’7, 225-pound wing, is the player to know for Sam Houston State — he leads the team in scoring at 19.3 points per game, along with 7.2 rebounds per game, but he’s turnover prone, averaging 4.2 giveaways per contest. He ranks in the top 10 nationally in usage rate and takes a third of the team’s shots.

Scoring is a struggle for the Bearkats, who rank No. 324 nationally in effective field-goal percentage, hit only 39.4 percent of their two-point attempts and 55.2 percent of their free-throw attempts. If there are silver linings for head coach Jason Hooten, it’s that his team doesn’t get fouled often and doesn’t turn the ball over much. They get shots up, they just don’t go in with any particular frequency.

But the turnovers may happen on Monday given the aggressiveness and effectiveness of the Texas defense in recent games — the Longhorns have forced 70 turnovers in the last three games with a 75-23 margin in points off of turnovers. Opponents have only managed 46 points per game during that streak on 38.3-percent shooting, including 28.8 percent from three-point range.

For the season, Beard’s team ranks third nationally in turnover rate at 29.2 percent.

How to Watch:

TV: Longhorn Network

Time: 7:30 p.m. Central

Radio: Texassports.com affiliates

Odds: The Longhorns are 22-point favorites over the Bearkats, according to DraftKings.

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.