SFA Set For Semifinal Showdown
3/14/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 14, 2008
KATY, Texas -
SFA vs. Northwestern State
SLC Tournament • March 14, 2008 • 8:30 p.m.
Merrell Center (7,200) • Katy, Texas
Radio: KTBQ (107.7 FM) • Television: None • Internet: Yahoo! Sports
Game Information
Southland Tourney Time: After a rousing come-from-behind victory in the first round of the Southland Conference Tournament, the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack basketball team will try to take the next step toward the program's first-ever NCAA Championship bid Friday, when the 'Jacks take on Northwestern State in the tournament semifinals. The game against the Demons is set for an 8:30 p.m. start from the Merrell Center. SFA, the Southland Conference champion and No. 1 seed, enters the game with a 26-4 record, the fourth-best win total in school history. No. 5 Northwestern State brings a 14-17 mark.
Last Game: SFA found itself trailing at halftime for just the second time this season in Thursday's first-round game against UTSA. But the Lumberjacks rallied behind Matt Kingsley and Gerald Fonzie in the second half to take a 71-60 win. Kingsley scored a team-high 26 points and was dominant on the boards, pulling down 11 rebounds, including a career-best nine offensive boards. Kingsley's fifth career double-double led a team effort that saw SFA outrebound the Roadrunners, 34-24. Fonzie scored 19 points with five 3-pointers, tying career-highs in both categories. The Lumberjacks shot 15-of-18 from the foul line, including an 8-for-8 performance over the final 3:36 to ice the win. UTSA's Devin Gibson, the SLC Freshman of the Year, tied his career-high with 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting.
vs. Northwestern State: SFA is 46-58 all-time against the Demons. The Lumberjacks defeated Northwestern State on the road, 67-59, in their lone meeting this season. That win snapped a five-game skid against the Demons. Under head coach Danny Kaspar, the Lumberjacks are 6-8 against the Demons. SFA is 4-6 over the last 10 meetings and 1-4 in the last five showdowns. The teams have met twice in SLC Tournament play with Northwestern State coming out on top both times. The Demons defeated SFA, 85-76, in the first round of last year's tourney.
The Demons: Northwestern State is annually one of the toughest teams in the Southland Conference, come tournament time. The Demons have reached the SLC Tournament championship game each of the last three seasons. Northwestern won the tournament title in 2006 then went on to collect a win in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. This year's version of the Demons dropped three of their last four regular-season games and needed a one-point win over Central Arkansas to avoid entering tournament play with four straight losses.
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 134-94 (.588) at SFA and has a 353-146 (.707) overall record in his 17th season as a collegiate head coach. Northwestern State is coached by Mike McConathy. McConathy is 144-134 (.518) in nine seasons with the Demons and 496-293 (.627) in 25 years total as a collegiate head coach.
Up Next: If the Lumberjacks can get past Northwestern State, they will earn their third trip to the SLC Tournament title game. SFA would face the winner of Friday's match-up featuring SLC West foes UT-Arlington and Sam Houston State.
News and Notes
• SPECIAL SEASON: SFA's 26-4 mark is the best record for a Lumberjack team since the program joined the NCAA Division I ranks in the 1986-87 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 team to date. 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.
• TOPS IN TEXAS: Only one NCAA Division I basketball program in the state of Texas posted a better win total than Stephen F. Austin, through the end of the regular season. The University of Texas posted a 26-5 record, while SFA finished at 25-4. At .862, SFA's winning percentage is slightly better than the Longhorns' .839 regular-season percentage. Of the 18 other D-I programs in the Lone Star State, only five had posted 20 or more wins through the end of SFA's regular season. That list includes Sam Houston State (22), the University of Houston (22), Texas A&M (22), Baylor (21) and North Texas (20).
• PLAYING THE PERCENTAGES: SFA finished the regular season with the 10th-best record in the nation. The Lumberjacks' .862 winning percentage was tied for 10th in the country through games of March 9.
• TOURNEY TRENDS: SFA is 7-10 all-time in the Southland Conference tournament with two appearances in the SLC championship game. The Lumberjacks dropped a 69-66 overtime decision at Sam Houston in the 2003 SLC Tourney finals and lost at Texas-San Antonio, 74-70, in the title game the following year. Since that game, the Lumberjacks are 2-2 in tournament competition. SFA is 2-4 all-time in neutral-site tournament games.
• RANK AND FILE: SFA stayed at No. 9 in Monday's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll for the second straight week. Last week, SFA moved from No. 6 -- the program's highest ranking ever that included a No. 1 vote -- back to No. 9. This is SFA's 14th 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 for the first time in school history earlier this season.
• VOTE OF CONFIDENCE: The Lumberjacks have received at least one vote in one of the two major national basketball polls -- Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll -- five times this season. SFA picked up one vote in last Monday's AP Top 25 Poll. The 'Jacks got a school-record seven votes in the previous week's AP poll and landed two votes in the Feb. 25 balloting. 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 2002-03 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 four losses this season have one thing in common: the Lumberjacks' top two scorers have been contained offensively, on average, in all four losing verdicts. While Alexander and Kingsley each averaged 16.4 points per win during the regular season, they combined for an average of just 26.0 ppg, in the Lumberjacks' four losses. 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 55.2 points per game, and ranked second in the nation through games of March 9. While good defense has long been a mark of Danny Kaspar-coached teams, the Lumberjacks have never finished better than 12th in the national rankings in terms of scoring defense. This season, the Lumberjacks have held 21 opponents to 60 points or fewer and have only allowed three teams to break 70. SFA has held opponents to 39.1 percent shooting from the field and ranked 12th in the country in that category, entering this week's action.
• EARLY BIRDS: SFA excelled in getting the jump on the competition in the first half of games this season. The Lumberjacks have held the lead at halftime in every game but two -- their 60-44 loss at Texas Tech and their 71-60 win over UTSA in the first round of the Southland Conference Tournament. SFA is 25-3 this year when the Lumberjacks go to the locker room with the lead.
• DOUBLE-UP: SFA posted just three double-doubles all of last season -- Josh Alexander had two, and Matt Kingsley recorded one. SFA has more than doubled that mark this year with seven 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. Kingsley scored 13 points with 10 rebounds against Texas State on Feb. 27, then recorded his fifth career double-double with 26 points and 11 rebounds -- including nine offensive boards -- in SFA's win over UTSA on March 13.
• FOUR OF A KIND: The Lumberjacks have had at least four players hit double digits in scoring in a single game six times this season -- against Jackson State, Louisiana-Monroe, Southern, at Oklahoma, versus Paul Quinn and against Sam Houston State. 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 Lumberjacks' 79-57 win over Sam Houston State, five players reached double digits -- the first time since SFA's Dec. 30, 2006, win over Howard Payne for SFA to put a quintet in double figures scoring.
• DIAL "1" FOR ASSISTANCE: Sophomore point guard Eric Bell (jersey number 1) leads the Southland Conference in assists at 5.6 per game and ranked 31st in the nation entering this week. 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 in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.40 and ranked 24th in the nation in that category when the week began.
• 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 19 different occasions this season, including seven performances with at least 20 points, and has three double-digit rebound efforts. His 16.2 points per game average has him on pace to crack the top 12 on SFA's list of career scoring leaders, and he recently became the school's all-time leader in career 3-point field goals. Alexander has hit 90 3-pointers this season -- a new career-high for triples in a season -- and has 235 for his career. He broke into the 1,000-point scorers list with his 14th point in SFA's loss at Nicholls State, where he finished with a game-high 18 points.
• 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.
• ROAD WARRIORS: 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 have gone 13-3 in games outside of William R. Johnson Coliseum, including a six-game road winning streak against Southland Conference foes.
• STINGY ON THE GLASS: The Lumberjacks give up the fewest rebounds per game in the Southland Conference. SFA is currently allowing its opponents just 30.9 rebounds per game.
• HOME-COOKED: The Lumberjacks posted a 13-1 record in home games at the William R. Johnson Coliseum and began the season with a 12-game home winning streak. 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 88-27 (.765) record in the William R. Johnson Coliseum, including a 13-1 home mark this season. SFA is 284-118 (.706) 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.
• For the complete release, click the "Northwestern State Game Notes" link in the side bar of the Men's Basketball home page.
-- SFA --
