Lumberjacks Look To Bounce Back At ULM
11/24/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 24, 2008
NACOGDOCHES, Texas -
Essentials
SFA at Louisiana-Monroe
Tuesday, November 25, 2008 • 7:00 p.m.
Fant-Ewing Coliseum (7,000) • Monroe, La.
Radio: 94.7 FM • Television: None • Internet: Yahoo! Sports
Game Information
Of Note: Tuesday's game was listed for a 7 p.m. start with ULM's first schedule release. The start time will move to 7:30 due to the addition of a ULM women's game against Southern Miss. scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.
On the Rebound: The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack basketball team will look to bounce back from its first defeat of the season Tuesday when it takes on Louisiana-Monroe in a road game. SFA is 1-1 after last week's 55-48 loss at Texas A&M. The Warhawks bring a 1-2 mark to the game.
Last Game: SFA endured its worst shooting performance in 39 games as the Lumberjacks dropped a 55-48 decision at Texas A&M last Tuesday. The score was tied at 42 with five minutes left, but the Aggies went 11-of-12 from the foul stripe over the game's closing minutes to secure the win. SFA shot just 29.8 percent from the floor in the contest, the worst showing by a Lumberjack team since shooting 29.6 percent in a loss at Sam Houston State during the 2006-07 season. The 'Jacks led by as many as five points in the first period and went to the locker room at the half tied at 29. Senior Josh Alexander went 7-for-10 from 3-point range to lead all scorers with 21 points. Classmate Matt Kingsley added 17 points, despite not registering a field goal in the second half, and pulled down nine rebounds. Junior point guard Eric Bell posted eight assists to lead all players.
vs. Louisiana-Monroe: The Warhawks lead the all-time series with SFA, 29-18, but the Lumberjacks have had the upper hand in recent meetings. SFA has an 8-2 advantage in the last 10 games between the two teams, and the Lumberjacks have won four of the last five meetings. SFA defeated ULM, 71-68, in Nacogdoches last season, in their first showdown since the Warhawks left the Southland Conference following the 2005-06 campaign. The last ULM win in the series was a 70-61 verdict in Nacogdoches in the 2004-05 season finale.
The Warhawks: ULM is out to a 1-2 start and has dropped back-to-back games against Mississippi State and McNeese State. The Warhawks returned nine lettermen but just two starters from last year's 10-21 squad.
The Coaches: SFA is led by head coach Danny Kaspar. Kaspar is in his ninth season at the helm for the Lumberjacks. He holds a record of 135-97 (.582) at SFA and has a 354-149 (.704) overall record in 17-plus seasons as a collegiate head coach. ULM head coach Orlando Early is 39-55 (.415) in his fourth season with the Warhawks.
Up Next: The Lumberjacks will play their last game in November and the first of a three-game home stand Saturday when they host Texas College. The game is set for a 6 p.m. start from the William R. Johnson Coliseum. SFA follows that game up with a Tuesday contest against Jackson State and a date with Texas Wesleyan the following Saturday.
News and Notes
THREE-FOR-ALL: Josh Alexander tied a career-high with seven 3-point field goals in last week's loss at Texas A&M. Alexander was 7-for-10 from downtown and 7-for-12 overall to finish with 21 points. That marked the 11th time in Alexander's career for all his field goals in a game to come from 3-point range. Coming into Tuesday's game, the most 3-pointers he had ever hit in a game without scoring from inside the arc was six at Sam Houston Sate last February. With no attempts at the free throw line, last week's effort marked just the fifth time in Alexander's career for all his points to come on threes. The previous best total in that scenario was the 12 points he scored on 4-of-7 shooting at Missouri in 2006-07.
TWENTY-TWENTY: Josh Alexander's game-high 21 points at Texas A&M marked the 20th time in his four-year career for him to break the 20-point barrier. He scored 20 or more points eight times in 2007-08. Alexander has led the team in scoring 38 times in his career.
OUTSTANDING ASSISTANCE: Through two games, the Lumberjacks have recorded 31 assists on 43 made field goals. That's a ratio of one dime for every 1.39 buckets. Junior point guard Eric Bell had eight assists at Texas A&M and leads the team with 12 for the season. Backup Girod Adams is second with eight after debuting with seven assists against Howard Payne in the season opener.
MISFIRE: SFA shot just 29.8 percent from the field in last week's 55-48 loss at Texas A&M. That marked the first time since Feb. 14, 2007 for a Lumberjack team to shoot worse than 30 percent from the field. That game, SFA shot 29.6 percent in a 63-51 loss at Sam Houston State. The only time the 'Jacks shot worse than 35 percent last season was a 34.1-percent showing at Texas Tech, their only non-conference defeat of the year.
WET PAINT: In a weird statistical quirk, SFA's shooting woes in last week's loss at Texas A&M went from bad to worse the closer the Lumberjacks got to the basket. In the first half, SFA was 4-for-13 from inside the 3-point line and 5-for-12 from outside of it. After halftime, the 'Jacks were completely shut out from inside the arc, going 0-for-13 on 2-point attempts, while knocking down 5-of-9 shots from 3-point range. A&M outscored SFA, 22-6, in the paint.
GRAND OPENING: With the Lumberjacks' 77-38 win over Howard Payne, SFA moved to 6-3 in nine season openers under head coach Danny Kaspar. SFA is perfect at 9-0 in home openers during Kaspar's tenure.
BIG 12: In eight seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar, SFA is 2-6 against teams from the Big 12 Conference. The 'Jacks have played at least one Big 12 foe in all but two seasons of Kaspar's tenure -- 2001-02 and 2004-05. SFA's two wins were at Baylor (79-57) in 2003-04 and at Oklahoma (66-62) last season. Last week's game at Texas A&M marked the first of two contests against Big 12 opponents this season. SFA will also take on Texas Tech on New Year's Day.
RANK AND FILE: SFA was ranked No. 11 in the Preseason CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. This marks the first time in the poll's 10-year history for SFA to enter the season as a ranked team. In addition, the No. 11 ranking is the highest entry to the poll for a Lumberjack team to date. SFA spent a program-best 15 consecutive weeks ranked in last year's Mid-Major Top 25 after debuting at No. 25 on Dec. 10. The 'Jacks climbed as high as No. 6, including a first-place vote, on Feb. 25, and finished the season ranked 14th.
STEADY EDDIE: Sophomore Eddie Williams made his first career start against Howard Payne, getting the nod at shooting guard. He played 25 minutes and tied career highs for points (16), field goals (7) and steals (3). In addition to his impact on the defensive end, Williams provided a spark in transition, as 10 of his 16 points came on fast breaks.
THREE OF A KIND: Seniors Josh Alexander and Matt Kingsley tied with sophomore Eddie Williams for the high-point total in SFA's opener against Howard Payne. Each of the three accounted for 16 points. Combined, they would have outscored the Yellow Jackets, 48-38, on their own.
BOARDED UP: Four different Lumberjacks -- Josh Alexander, Nick Shaw, Girod Adams and Jereal Scott -- pulled down at least five rebounds in SFA's win over Howard Payne. That happened just five times all of last season and only once in non-conference play. Five 'Jacks pulled down five or more rebounds against Huston-Tillotson on Dec. 21.
SHOOTING STRAIGHT: SFA opened the 2008-09 season with a .518 shooting percentage against Howard Payne. That figure is the best in a season opener under head coach Danny Kaspar. The previous best was the .511 SFA shot in the season-opening 64-60 win over Loyola Chicago in 2000-01, Kaspar's first season at SFA.
HISTORICALLY ACCURATE: Seniors Josh Alexander and Matt Kingsley are creeping up the list of all-time scorers at SFA. Alexander is currently 11th all-time with 1,327 career points, while Kingsley's 1,030 career points rank him just outside the top 20. They've reached their current level by being some of the most accurate shooters in Lumberjack basketball history. Alexander, the school's all-time leader in 3-pointers, has the third-best 3-point field goal percentage in the program's Division I history at .441. Kingsley's .515 field goal percentage stands ninth among Division I marks. Both players are just outside the top 10 for Division I free throw percentage. Kingsley is 11th at .762, while Alexander is 12th at .754.
DEFENSE FIRST: SFA's defense was dominant in 2007-08. The Lumberjacks held opponents to an average of 56.4 points per game, which ranked second in the nation. The Lumberjacks got out to a good start defensively in 2008-09, posting a 77-38 win over Howard Payne. The 38 points are the fewest allowed to an SFA opponent since holding Huston-Tillotson to 33 on Dec. 21 of last year. For the season, the Lumberjacks lead the Southland Conference, allowing just 46.5 points per game. The next-closest average is Lamar's 62.7 points allowed per game.
LOW POINT: While defense has always been emphasized by SFA head coach Danny Kaspar, recent history has seen an even stronger defensive performance by the 'Jacks. In eight-plus seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar, SFA has held 28 opponents to 50 points or fewer. SFA held the competition below that level nine times in 2007-08. The previous best under Kaspar was four games with fewer than 50 points.
SPECIAL SEASON: SFA's 26-6 mark in 2007-08 is the best record for a Lumberjack team since the program joined the NCAA Division I ranks in the 1986-87 season. The Southland Conference title is the first for the Lumberjack program since joining the league for the 1987-88 season. It marks the third 20-win season in head coach Danny Kaspar's tenure and is the highest win total for a Kaspar-coached Lumberjack team to date. SFA finished the regular season with a 25-4 (.862) mark. The last time an SFA team finished the regular season with a better winning percentage was 1972-73, when the Lumberjacks went 25-3 but failed to qualify for postseason play. Only four times in the 84-year history of Lumberjack basketball has a team won 25 or more games in a single season, with the 25-win total having been eclipsed in the regular season only twice -- 1969-70 and 1972-73.
ALEXANDER THE GREAT: Junior forward Josh Alexander enjoyed a record year in 2007-08. The Shreveport, La., native scored 15 or more points on 20 different occasions last season, including eight performances with at least 20 points, and had three double-digit rebound efforts. He finished the year with 1,290 career points, moving him into 12th place on the list of SFA's career scoring leaders. During the season, Alexander became the school's all-time leader in career 3-point field goals. He hit 94 3-pointers -- a new career-high for triples in a season -- and has 239 for his career.
FAST START: SFA opened the 2007-08 season with a 12-1 record, the best start to a season since the program joined the NCAA Division I ranks. The fantastic start was the best 13-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 picking up their second loss of the season in the 16th game. SFA's 10-game winning streak during its 12-1 start was the program's first double-digit run since the `Jacks won 13 in a row during the 2002-03 season.
NO MISTAKING: SFA was one of the more careful teams in the nation in 2007-08. The Lumberjacks committed just 12.3 turnovers per game, which ranked 29th in the country. At the same time, SFA's 17.0 personal fouls per game was the 58th-lowest average in the NCAA Division I ranks. SFA led the Southland Conference by a wide margin in each category.
SAFE AT HOME: In eight-plus seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar, the Lumberjacks have compiled an 89-27 (.767) record in the William R. Johnson Coliseum, including a 13-1 home mark last season. SFA is 285-118 (.707) all-time in the Coliseum. SFA defeated Howard Payne, 77-38, in the season opener. Kaspar's teams are 9-0 in home openers at SFA.
REMEMBERING A LUMBERJACK LEGEND: In memory of Marshall Brown, who passed away over the summer, the Lumberjacks will wear a black band on their game jerseys during the 2008-09 season. Brown coached men's basketball at SFA from 1959-1978 and is the school's all-time winningest coach with 345 career victories and a .672 winning percentage in 19 seasons.
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-- SFA --
