After having nearly eight months to think about how things went awry in the Southland Conference tournament in Katy, sophomore Drae Murray can hardly wait to get the 2009-10 campaign under way.

With Murray's contributions off the bench as a freshman, Sam Houston State won the SLC West Division with a 12-4 league record. The Bearkats were seeded third heading into the conference tournament, but fell to Texas-San Antonio, a team SHSU had beaten the nine previous meetings dating back to 2005, in the first round 83-74.

"It left a nasty taste in our mouths, losing in the first round," said Murray, who led the Huntsville Hornets basketball team to two straight district championships in 2007 and 2008. "We knew we should've been in the championship, going up against (No. 1 seed) SFA.

"Basically our guard play in the conference tournament wasn't as strong as it had been during the season. So this year, our guards are working on getting better and better every day and getting more consistent every day."

As a freshman, Murray appeared in 30 games, playing a little more than 13 minutes a game and dished out 64 assists. Murray averaged 5.4 points and shot 38.9 percent.

"It was bumpy," said the former Hornet guard of his performance in his freshman season. "There were a lot of ups and downs. I know I can play in the conference and I know I can play at this level. It's just that I was trying to adjust.

"Being a freshman kind of played a key role. I wasn't used to certain situations. I was used to being able to do what I want to do out on the court). I knew the competition rose up at the college level, so it was just adjusting to the college level."

But in order to improve, the speedy guard who's listed at 5-10, knew he had to spend plenty of time lifting weights.

"I knew I needed to get stronger, coming to a Division I school out of high school," Murray said. "This summer, I worked on getting stronger a little bit. I spent some time in the weight room and tried to get my jumper more consistent to help our team.

"I know I got a little bit stronger and I know I learned the game more. I'm a quick learner on the court. I'm going to have to pick my game up to help out Ashton (Mitchell) at the point guard spot."

Head coach Bob Marlin is already starting to see the effects from the work that Murray put in over the summer.

"He's worked hard in the weight room and increased his strength, which is helping him get in the lane and letting him finish," Marlin said on Monday. "It's also helped him defensively. He's going against Ashton every day. It makes him better and it makes Ashton better. It's been a good combination.

"He's always been a good practice player. He's got a year of maturity and he knows he's got to get stronger. He's put on about 10 pounds. We're excited about what he can do for our basketball team."

The Bearkats tip off their regular season on Saturday night against LeTourneau University.

Already, Murray likes what he's seen in practice and thinks that the pieces are in place for Sam Houston State to take the next step.

"We're much better I think," Murray added. "I think we've got more scorers and we're going to be much better on defense. Coach (Marlin) preached about defense after the UTSA game when we got back. When we got into the offseason, all we've been doing is defense, defense, defense. In the last scrimmage, we looked very good on defense.

"Our team was pretty good last year, but we were missing a few parts. The new guys that we recruited filled those spots."

$1 general admission and $5 reserved tickets for all men's and women's basketball games in November and December will be made available in a special promotional offer for just 72 hours beginning at 10 a.m. on Wednesday November 11.  

Area fans may purchase tickets online only via www.gobearkats.com for this one-time only opportunity to see any or all of those six contests for just $1 a game.

Use this link to learn more about the $1 Basketball Ticket Sale for 72-Hours for November and December basketball home games.

For more information on tickets to all Bearkat home athletic events, go to www.gobearkats.com or contact the Sam Houston athletic ticket office located in the Ron Mafrige Field House at Bowers Stadium. Ticket office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The ticket office telephone number is (936) 294-1729.