SFA Hosts Wiley College
1/4/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 4, 2008
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Game Information
SFA vs. Wiley College Wildcats
Jan. 5, 2008 • 4:00 p.m.
William R. Johnson Coliseum (7,200) • Nacogdoches, Texas
Radio: KTBQ (107.7 FM) • Television: None • Web: Yahoo! Sports
New Year, Same Streak: The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack basketball team will open the 2008 portion of its season Saturday with a 4 p.m. tilt against Wiley College. The Lumberjacks are looking to push their winning streak to 10 straight games, the program's first double-digit win streak since the 2002-03 season, when SFA won 13 straight. SFA enters the game with an 11-1 record, while Wiley comes into the weekend at 12-3 on the season.
Last Game: SFA knocked off SMU, 61-58, to capture the SMU Holiday Classic championship last Sunday. Junior forward Josh Alexander led all scorers with 17 points after sparking the Lumberjacks with five straight 3-point field goals to open the second half. He was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player and earned his second straight Southland Conference Player of the Week award after averaging 19.5 points per game in the two tournament contests. Kingsley joined Alexander on the all-tournament team after averaging 16.5 points in two games. He opened tournament action by scoring 25 points in SFA's 98-62 win over Paul Quinn. The 98 points set a new season-high for the Lumberjacks.
vs. Wiley: SFA is 3-1 all-time against the Wildcats. The Lumberjacks opened the series in 1981 with an 85-49 win in Marshall. SFA split a home-and-home series with Wiley the following season, then recorded a 56-48 home win over the Wildcats in the 1983-84 campaign.
The Wildcats: Wiley competes in the Red River Athletic Conference of the NAIA. The Wildcats bring a 12-3 record to Saturday's game and have won four straight contests, including a victory over Division I Grambling State. Wiley is 5-1 on the road this season.
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 119-91 (.567) at SFA and has a 338-143 (.703) overall record in his 17th season as a collegiate head coach. Wiley is coached by Andre Payne. In his second year with the Wildcats he holds a 33-13 record at the school and has a 115-87 mark in 10 years of coaching.
Up Next: SFA will open Southland Conference play next week with a two-game road trip to South Louisiana. The Lumberjacks kick off SLC action on Thursday, Jan. 10, against Nicholls State. The game with the Colonels is set for a 6:30 p.m. start. SFA will then take on Southeastern Louisiana two days later in a 3 p.m. contest.
News and Notes
• FAST START: SFA's 11-1 record this season is the best start to a season since the program joined the NCAA Division I ranks and is the best 12-game mark for the program since the 1981-82 season, when the Lumberjacks opened the season with seven straight wins and went on to post a 14-1 record before finally recording their second loss of the season in the 16th game.
• RANK AND FILE: SFA was included in Monday's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll, marking its fourth straight week in the rankings. After cracking the poll at No. 25 on Dec. 10, the Lumberjacks moved up to No. 22 the following week and were ranked No. 16 in last week's poll. Monday's rankings found SFA at No. 11, the highest spot ever attained by a Lumberjack team. Southland Conference foes Sam Houston State (7) and Texas-Arlington (19) 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.
• VOTE OF CONFIDENCE: For the second straight week, SFA received a vote in Monday's USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, marking the first time since the 2003-04 season for the Lumberjacks to earn a vote in a national Top 25 poll. That year, SFA earned one vote in the Associated Press poll.
• ON A ROLL ON THE ROAD: SFA's current nine-game winning streak includes five straight victories in non-conference road games and a neutral-site win. This marks the first time in program history for the Lumberjacks to win five straight road games against Division I, non-conference opponents. It's the first time since the 1981-82 season for SFA to win more than three 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 six of the first 12 games this season, including four performances with 20-plus points. His 26-point showing at Jackson State was a season high. Kingsley leads the Southland Conference scoring race with 17.8 points per game. Kingsley reached double digits in scoring in each of the first 11 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 as of the last NCAA national statistics update. Bell has averaged 6.33 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 5-0 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 five times in the last 11 contests -- against Jackson State, Louisiana-Monroe, Southern, at Oklahoma and against Paul Quinn. 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.
• BOARDOM: SFA has outrebounded its opponent in eight of 12 games this season by an average margin of 9.5 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. SFA posted a season-high 49 rebounds against Huston-Tillotson, besting the Rams by 22 boards, then put up 43 rebounds against Paul Quinn. 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 an 80-25 (.762) record in the William R. Johnson Coliseum, including a 5-0 home mark this season. SFA is 276-116 (.704) 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 Wildcats
• ABOUT THE WILDCATS: Wiley brings a 12-3 record to Saturday's contest. The Wildcats won their first three games of the season, then put together a five-game winning streak following their first loss. Wiley suffered back-to-back defeats following that hot streak but has since rebounded with four straight victories. The Wildcats are coming off an 89-88 overtime win at Philander Smith College on Thursday. Wiley knocked off Grambling State, 86-85, on the road as part of its current four-game run.
• LAST GAME: Wiley defeated Philander Smith College, 89-88, in overtime Thursday. A box score from the game was not available. In their previous game on Monday, the Wildcats knocked off cross-town rival East Texas Baptist, 93-70. Junior forward Michael Smith erupted for 25 points to lead Wiley in the game. Leading scorer Terell Jacob scored 12 points, and Johnathan Coleman added 10 points. The Wildcats shot 60 percent from the field, including a 40-percent effort from 3-point range, while holding ETBU to 41 percent from the floor. Wiley outrebounded the Tigers, 37-29.
• KEY NUMBERS: Wiley shoots 50 percent from the field and an impressive 46 percent from 3-point range, but the Wildcats average only 5.4 3-point field goals per game, electing to look for the high-percentage shots first. When they do miss, the Wildcats are pretty good at collecting the rebounds, as well as those of their opponents. Wiley averages 36.3 rebounds per game, six more than its opponents. The solid shooting and good rebounding have combined for an 82.8 points per game average. Wiley has scored at least 70 points in 12 of its 15 games, five times breaking the 90-point barrier.
• LEADERS: Junior guard Terrell Jacob leads the Wildcats in scoring with 15.6 points per game, while sophomore gaurd Darnell Adams is second at 10.4 points per contest. Junior forward Tremaine Enoch paces Wiley in rebounding with 5.6 boards per game, and his 8.7 points per game are tied for third on the squad. Enoch's 27 blocked shots lead the team. Senior gaurd Maurice Wood paces the Wildcats in assists with 3.7 dimes per contest.
• For the complete release, click the "Wiley College Game Notes" link in the side bar of the Men's Basketball home page.
-- SFA --
