Lumberjacks To Wrap Up Home Schedule
3/4/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 4, 2008
NACOGDOCHES, Texas -
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at SFA
March 5, 2008 • 7:00 p.m.
William R. Johnson Coliseum (7,200) • Nacogdoches, Texas
Radio: KTBQ (107.7 FM) • Television: None • Internet: Yahoo! Sports
Game Information
Home Finale: The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack basketball team will play its final home game of the 2007-08 season Wednesday, when the Lumberjacks host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. SFA will try to rebound from its first home loss in nearly a year when the game tips off at 7 p.m. from the William R. Johnson Coliseum. The Lumberjacks are 23-4 overall and lead the Southland Conference West Division with an 11-3 league record. The Islanders bring an 8-18 season mark and are scrapping for a spot in the eight-team SLC Tournament with a 5-7 record in league play. Wednesday's game is Senior Night for SFA, and seniors Gerald Fonzie, Kyle Jacobs and Scott Weaver will be honored in a brief ceremony prior to tip-off.
Last Game: Texas-Arlington tied the highest point total allowed to a Lumberjack opponent this season as the Mavericks shot 54.2 percent from the field and took a 75-65 victory in Nacogdoches on Saturday. It was SFA's first home loss of the season and robbed the Lumberjacks of a prime opportunity to pull even with Lamar in the race for the SLC regular-season championship. The Cardinals, who lead SFA by a game in the overall league standings, were defeated at McNeese State Saturday. UTA hit 5-of-6 3-pointers in the second half and shot 75 percent from downtown for the game -- a new season-high for SFA opponents. The Mavericks were even better inside, outscoring SFA, 34-22, in the paint and pulling down a 37-26 advantage on the boards, tying a season-high for opponent rebounding margin. Junior forward Josh Alexander scored 25 points to pace SFA, but Anthony Vereen finished with 27 points and 12 boards for the Mavericks.
vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi: SFA is 1-2 all-time against the Islanders in a series that began last season. A&M-Corpus swept both meetings a year ago with the Lumberjacks taking this year's first meeting, a 71-62 win in Corpus Christi.
The Islanders: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi enters the last week of SLC play on the bubble with regards to the Southland Conference Tournament. The Islanders are the only team not currently in the tournament's eight-team field that still has a mathematical shot at landing a postseason berth. But any A&M-Corpus tournament scenario starts with a win at SFA on Wednesday. The Islanders have lost three straight.
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 131-94 (.582) at SFA and has a 350-146 (.706) overall record in his 17th season as a collegiate head coach. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is coached by Perry Clark. Clark is 8-18 (.308) in his first season with the Islanders and holds a career record of 258-217 (.543) in 16 seasons as a head coach.
Up Next: SFA will wrap up the regular-season schedule by traveling to San Antonio to take on UTSA. The game against the Roadrunners is slated for a 2 p.m. start Saturday.
News and Notes
• SPECIAL SEASON: SFA's 23-4 mark is the best record, to this point, for a Lumberjack team since becoming a Division I program 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 mark is also the best record through 27 games for SFA since the Lumberjacks went 25-2 through the first 27 games of the 1971-72 season. SFA finished that year 31-3.
• RANK AND FILE: SFA moved from No. 6 -- the program's highest ranking ever -- back to No. 9 in Monday's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. The Lumberjacks earned 528 points a week after gaining the program's first-ever first-place vote. This is SFA's 13th 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 received one vote in Monday's Associated Press Top 25 Poll, marking the second straight week for SFA to earn votes. The 'Jacks got a school-record seven votes in last week's poll and were given two votes in the previous week's poll. 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 averages 16.5 points per game in SFA's 23 wins, and Kingsley averages 16.3 points per win, they combine for an average of 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 55.1 points per game, which ranks second in the nation through games of March 2. 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 18 opponents to 60 points or fewer and have only allowed three teams to break 70. SFA has held opponents to 38.5 percent shooting from the field and ranked 11th in the country in that category, entering this week's action.
• 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 six 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 for his fourth career double-double.
• 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 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. 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 5.7 per game and ranked 32nd 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 2.32 and ranked 28th 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 18 different occasions this season, including six performances with more than 20 points, and has three double-digit rebound efforts. His 16.5 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 all-time leader in career 3-point field goals. Alexander has hit 83 3-pointers this season -- a new career-high for triples in a season -- and has 228 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.
• 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 11-3 in games outside of William R. Johnson Coliseum this season.
• STINGY ON THE GLASS: The Lumberjacks give up the fewest rebounds per game in the Southland Conference. SFA is currently allowing its opponents just 31.5 rebounds per game.
• HOME-COOKED: The Lumberjacks hold a 12-1 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 87-27 (.763) record in the William R. Johnson Coliseum, including a 12-1 home mark this season. SFA is 283-118 (.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.
Scouting the Islanders
• FOR THE RECORD: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi brings an 8-18 overall mark and a 5-7 record in Southland Conference play to Wednesday's showdown. The Islanders are a young team -- they began the year with eight underclassmen, including seven freshmen -- who started the season by losing six of their first seven games and eight of their first 10. Corpus Christi seemed to gell with the beginning of SLC play, splitting its first 10 league games. But the Islanders are just 2-5 since their 71-62 home loss to Stephen F. Austin, and they have lost three straight games.
• LAST GAME: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is coming off a 65-51 loss at Texas-San Antonio on Saturday. The Islanders shot 50 percent in the second half and actually out-shot UTSA for the game, hitting 47.5 percent to 46.8 percent for the Roadrunners. The difference in the game was UTSA's long-range efficiency after halftime. The Roadrunners connected on just 1-of-10 3-pointers in the first period and only led by two, 27-25, at the half. But UTSA hit 6-of-11 from downtown in the second period and forced 21 Islander turnovers in the game. The Roadrunners outscored Corpus Christi, 23-8, in points off turnovers. Justin Reynolds scored 10 points and was the only Islander to reach double figures.
• KEY NUMBERS: As can be expected with young teams, the Islanders have struggled with ball-handling this season. They rank last in the Southland Conference in turnover margin, averaging 18.5 turnovers per game -- the second-highest tally in the SLC -- and 5.15 more turnovers per game than their opponents. A&M-Corpus is also 11th in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.06. The Islanders rank fifth in the league in rebounding offense and fourth in the conference in rebounding defense for a solid plus-4.3 margin, which stands fourth in the conference. And with 14.74 offensive rebounds per game, the Islanders are the second-best team in the conference on the offensive glass.
• LEADERS: Senior center Chris Daniels leads the Islanders and ranks 17th in the conference with 12.0 points per game. Freshman Justin Reynolds is the only other A&M-Corpus player to crack the league's top 25 scorers, coming in at No. 21 with 11.7 points per game. Reynolds and Daniels are also among the conference leaders in rebounding. Reynolds is sixth with 7.2 boards per game, while Daniels ranks 12th with 6.2 rebounds per contest. Daniels is fourth in the SLC with 1.74 blocked shots per game.
• For the complete release, click on the "Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Game Notes" link in the side bar of the Men's Basketball home page.
-- SFA --
