SFA Travels To Take On Sooners
12/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 6, 2007
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Game Vitals:
OUt of Town Again: The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack basketball team will face its toughest test of the early season Saturday, when the 'Jacks square off with Oklahoma in the third road game of their last four contests. The game is set for a 12:30 p.m. tip from OU's Lloyd Noble Center. SFA has won four straight games and enters the contest with a 6-1 record -- the Lumberjacks' best start since joining the NCAA Division I ranks. The last time an SFA team beat that mark through seven games was the 1981-82 team's 7-0 start. Oklahoma brings a 7-2 record to the contest.
Last Game: SFA overcame a poor shooting effort with solid defense to knock off Southern, 56-39, at home Tuesday night. That win marked the first time a Lumberjack team has held an opponent to fewer than 40 points since the 2002-03 season. With starting center and leading scorer Matt Kingsley in foul trouble early in the second half, Benson Akpan came off the bench to score 10 of his game-high 12 points after halftime. The 12 points were a career-high for Akpan, as were his nine rebounds and three blocked shots. Kingsley added 10 points to extend his streak of double-digit scoring performances to seven games. SFA posted a season-best plus-12 turnover margin and converted 23 Southern miscues into 26 points.
vs. Oklahoma: SFA trails the all-time series with Oklahoma, 1-0. The Sooners won the initial meeting in Norman, 88-55, in 1981. The Lumberjacks are 0-1 this season against Big 12 Conference teams after losing at Texas Tech, 60-44, on Nov. 17.
The Sooners: Oklahoma is off to a 7-2 start, outscoring its opponents by an average of 17.9 points per game. The Sooners' only defeats of the season came against teams currently ranked in the Top 25. OU is undefeated at home and has won each of its last two games, knocking off TCU and Tulsa by a combined total of 50 points.
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 114-91 (.556) at SFA and has a 333-143 (.700) overall record in 16-plus seasons as a collegiate head coach. Jeff Capel is in his second season as Oklahoma's head coach. He has a 23-17 (.575) mark with the Sooners and a 102-58 (.638) overall mark in six seasons as a head coach.
Up Next: After a week off, the Lumberjacks will take their fourth road trip in five games when they travel west to take on San Diego on Dec. 15. The game is set for a 3 p.m. (CST) tip. Following that game, SFA will play its second and final home game of December when the 'Jacks host Huston-Tillotson on Dec. 21.
SFA News and Notes
• 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 seven 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 19.0 points per game. Kingsley has reached double digits in scoring in all seven games this season, breaking his previous career-best streak of five double-figure games, set late last season.
• DIAL "1" FOR ASSISTANCE: Sophomore point guard Eric Bell leads the Southland Conference in assists and ranked fourth in the nation entering this week. Bell has averaged 6.57 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 three times in the last six contests -- against Jackson State, Louisiana-Monroe and Southern. 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 seven 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 last Saturday 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 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.
Scouting the Sooners
• ABOUT THE SOONERS: Oklahoma brings a 7-2 record to Saturday's contest. The Sooners' only losses this season have come away from home and against ranked opponents. Oklahoma lost by 10 to Memphis on a neutral floor and dropped an 11-point decision at USC. Those teams are currently ranked second and 24th, respectively in the latest AP Top 25 poll. The Sooners' seven victories have come by an average margin of 26 points per win. OU has scored more than 80 points four times this season, including twice in its last two games -- a 90-66 win at TCU and an 81-55 victory at home against Tulsa.
• LAST GAME: Oklahoma outscored Tulsa, 46-16, in the first half, then coasted to an 81-55 win Wednesday night. The Sooners shot 54.5 percent and held Tulsa to 35.7 percent from the floor, including an abysmal 23.1-percent showing in the first half. Sophomore guard Tony Crocker led Oklahoma in scoring with 22 points. He also dished out a game-high five assists. Senior center Longar Longar scored 16 points, leading an effort that saw the Sooners outscore Tulsa, 36-18, in the paint. Freshman forward Blake Griffin had 13 points and a team-best seven rebounds.
• KEY NUMBERS: Oklahoma's strong inside game has led to a solid .485 shooting percentage, and the Sooners have proven they can score from outside as well, hitting 39 percent of their 3-point attempts. But the strongest part of Oklahoma's game may be its defense. The Sooners lead the Big 12 in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to .358 shooting this season. Oklahoma's foes have scored just 56.8 points per game this year. The Sooners have allowed more than 60 points only three times this season and have yet to allow an opponent past 70.
• LEADERS: Two of the Sooners' top three scorers play in the front court. Freshman forward Blake Griffin leads the team with 13.6 points per game. Senior center Longar Longar is third with 11.1 points per contest. Griffin is also the team's top rebounder and ranks fourth in the Big 12 with 8.2 boards per outing. Longar ranks second on the squad with 6.2 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Tony Crocker averages 13.0 points per game. Crocker leads the Sooners with 20 3-pointers and ranks second in the Big 12 with a .571 3-point field goal percentage.
• HOMEOWNERS: The Sooners are a perfect 5-0 at home this season, outscoring the opposition by an averge of 28.8 points per game. That trend is nothing new. Entering the 2007-08 season Oklahoma had won 53 of its last 54 non-conference home games. The Sooners set a new Big 12 record with their 37-game home court winning streak that ended in 2003.
• For the complete release, click on the "Oklahoma Game Notes" link in the side bar of the Men's Basketball home page.
-- SFA --
