'Jacks Host Huston-Tillotson
12/20/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 20, 2007
NACOGDOCHES, Texas --
- Huston-Tillotson Rams at SFA
Friday, Dec. 21, 2007 • 7:00 p.m.
William R. Johnson Coliseum (7,200) • Nacogdoches, Texas
Radio: KTBQ (107.7 FM) • Television: None • Web: Yahoo! Sports
Game Information
Home At Last: After playing four of their last five games on the road -- and winning all four -- the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks are set for their last home game of the calendar year Friday, when they host Huston-Tillotson. The game against the Rams is set for a 7 p.m. tip from William R. Johnson Coliseum. The Lumberjacks are 8-1 entering the game and riding the momentum of a six-game winning streak. Huston-Tillotson is playing at the other end of the spectrum. The Rams (0-7) come into Friday's game trying to break their season-opening seven-game skid.
Last Game: SFA scrapped its way through a tough offensive game with defense and clutch shooting to earn a 56-50 win at San Diego last Saturday. The Lumberjacks shot just 36 percent in the first half and fell behind in the second, when the Toreros hit 63 percent from the field. But SFA forced 18 San Diego turnovers, and the 'Jacks upped their percentage to 54.5 after halftime to keep pace, then knocked down some key shots in the closing minutes to secure the win. Junior forward Josh Alexander scored a season-high 22 points and shot 5-of-8 from 3-point range, including a pair of huge second-half threes. Junior center Matt Kingsley added 17 points. The game marked the first time for an SFA team to win after trailing entering the last five minutes of a game since March 7, 2006, when the 'Jacks overcame an eight-point deficit against McNeese State to collect a 72-70 win.
vs. Huston-Tillotson: SFA leads the all-time series with Huston-Tillotson, 1-0. The Lumberjacks won the only meeting, 92-75, in 1980. Friday's game will mark the first of three contests against Red River Athletic Conference foes in SFA's next four games.
The Rams: Huston-Tillotson is an NAIA Division I team that competes in the Red River Athletic Conference. The Rams are scuffling this season under first-year head coach Curtis Jones. Of their seven losses this year, six have come on the road.
The Coaches: SFA is led by head coach Danny Kaspar. Kaspar is in his eighth season at the helm for the Lumberjacks. He holds a record of 116-91 (.560) at SFA and has a 335-143 (.701) overall record in 16-plus seasons as a collegiate head coach. Huston-Tillotson head man Curtis Jones is in his first season as a men's head coach after coaching on the collegiate women's side of the game early in his career.
Up Next: After a quick break for Christmas, the Lumberjacks will be back in action for a pair of games in the SMU Holidy Classic. SFA will take on Paul Quinn College Dec. 29 at 4:35 p.m. The Lumberjacks will then meet host SMU on Dec. 30 with that game also starting at 4:35 p.m.
News and Notes
• FAST START: SFA's 8-1 record this season is the best start to a season since the program joined the NCAA Division I ranks and is the best nine-game mark for the program since the 1981-82 season, when the Lumberjacks opened the season with seven straight wins before falling in their eighth game of the year. SFA went on to record a 14-1 start that season before finally posting its second loss in the 16th game of the year.
• RETURN TO THE RANKINGS: SFA was included in Monday's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll, marking its second straight week in the rankings. The Lumberjacks moved up three slots to No. 22 after cracking the poll at No. 25 on Dec. 10. Southland Conference foes Sam Houston State (8) and Texas-Arlington (12) are also ranked, marking the first time in the nine-year history of the mid-major poll for three SLC teams to be ranked at the same time.
• ON A ROLL ON THE ROAD: SFA's current six-game winning streak includes four straight victories in non-conference road games. This marks the first time in program history for the Lumberjacks to win four straight road games against Division I, non-conference opponents. It's the first time since the 1981-82 season for SFA to win four straight out-of-conference road games against any level of competition.
• DOUBLE-UP: SFA posted just three double-doubles all of last season -- Josh Alexander had two, and Matt Kingsley recorded one. The Lumberjacks have already surpassed that mark this year with four double-doubles -- each from a different player. Kingsley posted the first with 22 points and 13 rebounds against Jackson State on Nov. 13. Nick Shaw then scored 17 points and pulled down 16 rebounds against Louisiana-Monroe on Nov. 21, and Eric Bell had 18 points with 11 assists at Northern Illinois three days later. Alexander finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds at Jackson State on Dec. 1.
• KING OF THE (scoring) COLUMN: Junior center Matt Kingsley has led the Lumberjacks in scoring in five of the first nine games this season, including three performances with 20-plus points. His 26-point showing at Jackson State was a season high. Kingsley leads the Southland Conference scoring race with 18.4 points per game. Kingsley has reached double digits in scoring in all nine games this season, blasting his previous career-best streak of five straight double-figure games, set late last season.
• DIAL "1" FOR ASSISTANCE: Sophomore point guard Eric Bell (jersey number 1) leads the Southland Conference in assists and ranked 13th in the nation entering this week. Bell has averaged 6.78 assists per game. He posted a career-high 11 assists at Northern Illinois. That marked the first double-digit assist effort for a Lumberjack since Marcus Clark dished out 10 in a game during the 2005-06 season.
• PERFECT IN THE WRJ: The Lumberjacks are out to a 4-0 start in home games at the William R. Johnson Coliseum. SFA opened the 2006-07 season with wins in its first three home contests before dropping the fourth. The last time a Lumberjack team won more than three in a row at home to start a season was in 2003-04, when SFA went 16-0 at home as part of a 31-game home winning streak that dated to the previous season and was the longest active streak in the nation by the time it was finally broken.
• FOUR OF A KIND: The Lumberjacks have had four players hit double digits in scoring in a single game four times in the last eight contests -- against Jackson State, Louisiana-Monroe, Southern and at Oklahoma. The quadruple-double against Jackson State marked the first time four SFA players hit double digits in a single game since Jan. 11 of last season, when SFA took a 73-72 overtime victory at Lamar. In the middle of the current run, three 'Jacks hit double digits against Northern Illinois.
• BOARDOM: SFA has outrebounded its opponent in six of nine games this season by an average margin of 7.0 boards per contest. The Lumberjacks pulled down 41 rebounds in the win over Louisiana-Monroe, two games after the Lumberjacks' 43-board effort against Jackson State. That is the best team rebounding total the Lumberjacks have put up since they recorded 45 boards against Sam Houston State on Jan. 18 last season. The Lumberjacks pulled down 40-plus rebounds only four times in all last season and surpassed 43 boards only twice.
• NON-CONFERENCE REMATCHES: SFA's win against Jackson State earlier this year marked the second meeting between the two teams this season and the first time since the 2003-04 season for the 'Jacks to sweep a non-conference doubleheader. SFA had not played a non-conference home-and-home series since the 2004-05 season, when the Lumberjacks split with Alabama A&M as each team won at home. The year before, SFA played home-and-home series against both Alcorn State and Centenary. The 'Jacks swept Alcorn State and split with Centenary.
• SAFE AT HOME: In seven-plus seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar, the Lumberjacks have compiled a 79-25 (.760) record in the William R. Johnson Coliseum, including a 4-0 home mark this season. SFA is 275-116 (.703) all-time in the Coliseum. The 'Jacks went 10-5 (.667) at home in 2006-07. SFA defeated UT-Tyler, 63-47, in the 2007-08 season opener. Kaspar's teams are a perfect 8-0 in home openers at SFA.
• EARLY SIGNINGS: SFA signed three recruits during the fall's early signing period. The Lumberjacks added shooting guard Walt Harris, small forward Zach Williams and power forward Lu Griffin. Harris and Griffin are top-flight junior college players -- Harris from McLennan J.C. and Griffin from South Plains J.C. -- while Williams, a Dallas Skyline product, is a Top 15 prep recruit for his class in the state of Texas. The trio has been ranked tops in the Southland Conference among early signing classes by The Hoop Scoop, with a league-best average player rating of 3.0. Rivals.com rates Harris and Williams as the best shooting guard and small forward, respectively, signed in the Southland Conference this fall.
Scouting the Rams
• ABOUT THE RAMS: Huston-Tillotson brings an 0-7 record into Friday's game at SFA. The Rams have dropped their first seven games of the year by an average of 10 points per contest, a figure that would be closer if not for a 75-43 rout at Tulane. All but one of Huston-Tillotson's six other losses have been by seven points or less. The Rams have played just one home game this season, an 84-81 loss to Concordia.
• LAST GAME: Despite one of their best 3-point field goal percentages of the season, the Rams dropped a 78-71 decision at Jarvis Christian College last Monday. Huston-Tillotson knocked down 8-of-18 (44.4 percent) from beyond the arc, but couldn't overcome a 54-percent effort from the floor by Jarvis Christian. The Rams also turned the ball over 21 times and were outrebounded, 40-29. K.C. Asomugha led the way with 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting, including a 5-for-10 effort on threes. Jermaine Smith joined him in double figures with 14 points. Asomugha tied with Chris Wilson for the team lead in rebounds with eight.
• KEY NUMBERS: The Rams have shot just 37 percent from the field and 29 percent from 3-point range this season. Those issues are compounded by the fact that they have been outrebounded by an average margin of 4.3 boards per contest. Opponents average nearly 42 rebounds per game against Huston-Tillotson, with most of those boards (30.5) coming on the defensive end off the Rams' missed shots. One area HTU has been able to hang tight in is turnovers. Despite the fact that the Rams give up a gaudy 20.4 turnovers per game, they force their opposition into 20.6 turnovers per contest.
• LEADERS: Senior guard K.C. Asomugha leads the Rams in scoring and rebounding, averaging 12.0 points and 7.6 boards per game. With 15 3-pointers to his credit, he is Huston-Tillotson's top outside threat. Freshman guard Robert Hollins is second on the squad in scoring at 11.5 points per game, and junior guard Titus Butler ranks third with his 11.1 points per outing. Hollings also leads the team with two assists per contest.
• For the complete release, click on the "Huston-Tillotson Game Notes" link in the side bar of the Men's Basketball home page.
-- SFA --
