SFA Looking For 20th Win
2/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 12, 2008
NACOGDOCHES, Texas -
Central Arkansas at SFA
February 13, 2008 • 7:00 p.m.
William R. Johnson Coliseum (7,200) • Nacogdoches, Texas
Radio: KTBQ (107.7 FM) • Television: None • Web: Yahoo! Sports
Game Information
Sittin' On Twenty: The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack basketball team will host Central Arkansas Wednesday as the Lumberjacks bid to become the first team in the Southland Conference to win 20 games this season. SFA enters the contest with a 19-3 overall record and an SLC West Division-leading 7-2 mark in conference play. The 'Jacks have won four straight games and are looking for their third 20-win season in the last six years. The Bears bring a 13-10 season mark and a 3-6 conference record to Wednesday's game. The contest is set to tip off at 7 p.m.
Last Game: SFA ended a six-game losing streak against Texas-San Antonio when the Lumberjacks collected a 60-39 home victory against the Roadrunners on Saturday. SFA held UTSA to 33 percent shooting, and the 39 points were two off a season-low for the Roadrunners. Junior center Matt Kingsley paced the Lumberjacks on both ends of the floor, scoring a game-high 17 points and recording three blocked shots with two steals. Junior forward Josh Alexander scored 14 points and pulled down eight rebounds, tying with classmate Nick Shaw for game-high honors. As a team, the Lumberjacks outrebounded the Roadrunners, 40-18, and scored 13 second-chance points off of 12 offensive rebounds.
vs. Central Arkansas: SFA has won its only meeting with Central Arkansas. The Lumberjacks went on the road to collect a 60-54 win over the Bears last season, UCA's first in the Southland Conference. Josh Alexander scored 14 points to lead SFA in last year's game, when the Lumberjacks held UCA to 36 percent shooting and 14.3 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.
The Bears: Central Arkansas' 3-6 Southland Conference record has the Bears ranked fourth in the SLC East Division. With a plus-2.7 scoring margin UCA is no stranger to close games, especially in conference play. Each of the Bears' last two games and three of their last five have gone to overtime.
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 127-93 (.577) at SFA and has a 346-145 (.705) overall record in his 17th season as a collegiate head coach. Central Arkansas is coached by Rand Chappell. He has an 84-58 (.592) record in five seasons with the Bears and is 282-120 (.701) in 13 seasons overall.
Up Next: SFA will play its last SLC East Division game of the regular season Saturday. The Lumberjacks head to Natchitoches, La., to take on Northwestern State. The game is set for a 2 p.m. tip. Next Thursday, SFA will host Sam Houston State in a rematch of last month's rivalry game. That contest is set for a 7 p.m. start and will be broadcast on Fox Sports Net Southwest.
News and Notes
• SPECIAL SEASON: SFA's 19-3 mark is the best record for a Lumberjack team since becoming a Division I program in the 1986-87 season. It is also tied for the best record through 22 games for SFA since the Lumberjacks went 20-2 through the first 21 games of the 1972-73 season. SFA finished that year 25-3.
• FAST START: SFA opened the 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 recording their second loss of the season in the 16th game. SFA's 10-game winning streak earlier this season was the program's first double-digit run since the 'Jacks won 13 in a row during the 2002-03 season.
• RANK AND FILE: SFA moved up from No. 16 to No. 11 in Monday's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. This is SFA's 10 straight week in the rankings -- the longest stay in school history -- after entering the poll at No. 25 on Dec. 10, following the Lumberjacks' upset win at Oklahoma. SFA then moved up in the poll each week, jumping to 22nd, 16th, then 11th, before cracking the Top 10 a month ago.
• VOTE OF CONFIDENCE: SFA received a vote in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll in each of the last two weeks of December. This marked 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.
• TOP GUNS: As Josh Alexander and Matt Kingsly go, so go the Lumberjacks. SFA's three losses this season have one thing in common: the Lumberjacks' top two scorers have been contained offensively, on average, in all three losing verdicts. While Alexander averages 16.8 points per game in SFA's 18 wins, along with Kingsley's 16.6 points per win, their averages dip to 14.3 and 11.3 points per game, respectively, in the Lumberjacks' three defeats. The scoring averages for SFA's next three highest scorers fluctuate less than a full point per game from wins to losses.
• DEFENSE FIRST: SFA's defense has been dominant this season. The Lumberjacks have held opponents to an average of 53.8 points per game, which leads the nation through games of Feb. 10. While good defense has long been a mark of Danny Kaspar-coached teams, the Lumberjacks have never finished higher than 12th in the national rankings in terms of scoring defense. This season, the Lumberjacks have held 14 opponents to fewer than 60 points and have only allowed one team to break 70. SFA has held opponents to 38.4 percent shooting from the field and ranked 14th in the country in that category, entering this week.
• STINGY ON THE GLASS: The Lumberjacks give up the fewest rebounds per game in the Southland Conference. SFA is currently allowing its opponents just 30.5 rebounds per game.
• 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 five double-doubles -- each of the first four coming from a different player. Kingsley posted the first with 22 points and 13 rebounds against Jackson State. Nick Shaw then scored 17 points and pulled down 16 rebounds against Louisiana-Monroe, 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, then recorded his seventh career double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds at Nicholls State.
• DIAL "1" FOR ASSISTANCE: Sophomore point guard Eric Bell (jersey number 1) leads the Southland Conference in assists and ranks 23rd in the nation with 6.05 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. Bell also leads the Southland and ranks 39th in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.29.
• ALEXANDER THE GREAT: Junior forward Josh Alexander is enjoying a record year in 2007-08. The Shreveport, La., native has scored 15 or more points on 15 different occasions this season, including four performances with more than 20 points, and has three double-digit rebound efforts. His 16.4 points per game average has him on pace to crack the top 15 on SFA's list of career scoring leaders, and he recently became the all-time leader in career 3-point field goals. Alexander has hit 67 3-pointers this season -- well on his way to a career-high -- and has 212 for his career. He broke into the 1,000-point scorer list with his 14th point in SFA's loss at Nicholls State, when he scored a game-high 18 points.
• ON A ROLL ON THE ROAD: SFA's 10-game winning streak earlier this season included 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. Overall, the Lumberjacks are 8-3 in games outside of William R. Johnson Coliseum this season.
• PERFECT IN THE WRJ: The Lumberjacks are out to an 11-0 start in home games at the William R. Johnson Coliseum. 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.
• SAFE AT HOME: In seven-plus seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar, the Lumberjacks have compiled an 85-25 (.794) record in the William R. Johnson Coliseum, including an 11-0 home mark this season. SFA is 281-116 (.708) 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 in the fall.
Scouting the Bears
• FOR THE RECORD: Central Arkansas is 13-10 on the season with a 3-6 record in Southland Conference play. The Bears started the year as one of the hottest teams in the SLC. After dropping their season opener at Kentucky, they reeled off eight straight victories. But the win streak was halted by a 65-52 defeat at Tulsa, and UCA has not won consecutive games since. The Bears won their SLC opener, collecting a 70-68 overtime verdict against Texas-Arlington, but UCA then lost four straight games. The Bears have gone to overtime four times in SLC play, including each of their last two games. They are coming off a 67-66 OT loss at home against Northwestern State and are 2-2 overall in overtime games.
• LAST GAME: Northwestern State edged Central Arkansas, 67-66, in overtime Saturday, as the Bears were betrayed by a poor night at the free throw line. Both teams shot below 40 percent from the field, but UCA outrebounded the Demons and won the turnover battle. However, the Bears shot just 48.6 percent from the foul line, converting just 18 of their 37 chances at the stripe, including a 6-for-15 showing in the second period. Four of UCA's five starters reached double figures in scoring, led by 17 from Nate Bowie. Marcus Pillow added 14, York Sims scored 12 and Durrell Nevels tossed in 10. Nevels also had 11 rebounds, joining UCA's fifth starter, Brian Marks, as two of four players to finish with double-digit rebounds. Marks pulled down 17 boards. The other two double-figure rebounders were wearing Demon uniforms.
• KEY NUMBERS: Central Arkansas is ranked in the top half of the Southland Conference in 11 of 19 statistical categories. However, the Bears crack the top three in only two areas. UCA is ranked second in the league in blocked shots, averaging 5.39 rejections per game and stands third in rebounding with 39.4 boards per contest. The Bears average 10.70 assists per game, last in the conference and have a minus-1.04 turnover margin, which ranks seventh in the SLC.
• LEADERS: Senior guard Nate Bowie leads the Bears and the Southland Conference in scoring with 17.1 points per game. Bowie is also eighth in the league in assists, averaging 3.70 per contest. He ranks fourth in the league in steals with 2.04 per game and averages an SLC-best 35.00 minutes per outing. Sophomore guard Marcus Pillow ranks ninth in the conference in scoring with 13.3 points per game, making Central Arkansas the only school other than SFA to put two players among the league's top 10 scorers. UCA also boasts two of the top 10 rebounders in the conference. Senior forward Durrell Nevels is third in the league with 8.1 boards per game, while junior center Brian Marks stands fourth with 7.9 rebounds per contest. Nevels' 1.95 blocked shots per game rank second in the SLC.
• For the complete release, click on the "UCA Game Notes" link in the side bar of the Men's Basketball home page.
-- SFA --
