'Jacks Set To Open Season
11/15/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 15, 2009
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -
Complete Release in PDF Format 
VITALS
Stephen F. Austin at No. 18 Minnesota
Monday, Nov. 16, 2009 • 7:00 p.m. (CST)
Williams Arena (14,100) • Minneapolis, Minn.
Radio: Q107.7-FM • Television: none • Online: Big 10 Network
Lumberjacks
Record: 24-8*
Last 5/Streak: 4-1/L1*
Coach: Danny Kaspar
Career: 377-156
At SFA: 158-104
SID: Brian Ross
E-mail: rossbrian@sfasu.edu
Web: sfajacks.com
Gophers
Record: 22-11*
Last 5/Streak: 2-3/L2*
Coach: Tubby Smith
Career: 429-170
At UM: 42-25
SID: Matt Slieter
E-mail: sli0001@umn.edu
Web: gophersports.com
* 2008-09 Records
GAME INFORMATION
TIP-OFF TIME: The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack basketball team will open the 2009-10 season Monday with a road game against Minnesota. This marks the first time since the 2005-06 season for the 'Jacks to open the year away from home. SFA brings back six lettermen and two starters from last year's team and will suit up eight newcomers for their first game as Lumberjacks.
LAST SEASON: SFA is coming off a 24-8 campaign in 2008-09. The Lumberjacks went 13-3 in Southland Conference play to take their second straight league title, then won the Southland Tournament to earn the program's first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament. SFA drew a 14 seed and was ousted in the first round by third-seeded Syracuse.
THE GOPHERS: Minnesota entered the 2009-10 campaign with a No. 18 ranking in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' preseason poll. The Gophers are No. 25 in the Associated Press Top 25. Minnesota is coming off a 2008-09 season that saw it post a 22-11 record and earn a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Minnesota is in its third season under head coach Tubby Smith. The Gophers knocked off Tennessee Tech, 87-50, Friday night in their season opener.
vs. MINNESOTA: Monday's game will mark just the second meeting between SFA and the Gophers. The first came in 1996 and was the season opener for the Lumberjacks. Minnesota took a 101-55 win in that contest.
COVERAGE: Monday's game will be broadcast on Q107.7 FM with SFA's Rob Meyers handling the play-by-play duties. The game can be followed online via Live Stats on the Minnesota Web site or through the Big 10 Network's live internet video feed.
Big 10 Network Live Video
Live Stats (link will be available after tip-off)
UP NEXT: Following the season opener, SFA will return home for three straight games to finish out the month of November. The 'Jacks host Jackson State on Nov. 21 in a 7 p.m. game, then take on Texas Tech Nov. 24 and host Huston-Tillotson on the 28.
NEWS AND NOTES
SEASON OPENERM: SFA is 6-3 in season-opening games under head coach Danny Kaspar. The Lumberjacks have compiled an 11-12 record in season openers as a Division I program (since 1986-87 season). SFA is 1-3 under Kaspar when opening on the road and is just 1-6, in all, as a Division I program when playing the season opener on the road. The Lumberjacks' only season-opening road win in the last 23 seasons was an 82-72 verdict at Tulsa to start the 2005-06 campaign. That win started SFA's current run of four straight victories in season openers.
FOUR OF A KIND: Former McLennan Community College players Walt Harris, Jordan Glynn, Orren Tims and Eric Bell make SFA the only Division I team in the country with four players from the same junior college on its roster.
PROVIDING ASSISTANCE: Eric Bell and Eddie Williams combined to account for nearly 45 percent of SFA's assists a year ago. Their total comprises almost 90 percent of the assists posted by returning players.
POINTS SPREAD THIN: With the graduation of four seniors, including two of the top scorers in Lumberjack history (Josh Alexander and Matt Kingsley), SFA enters the 2009-10 season missing 74 percent of its scoring production from last year. In all, the 'Jacks lost five of their top six scorers from 2008-09 with Eddie Williams' 7.4 points per game being the top returning average.
ON THE REBOUND: In addition to losing most of the scoring punch from a year ago, the Lumberjacks come into the new season missing 80 percent of their rebounding from 2008-09. SFA lost four of its top five rebounders to graduation. Jereal Scott's 2.4 boards per contest are the top returning average.
BIG WILL: At six feet, 10 inches tall, Will Reinke is the tallest player signed in Danny Kaspar's nine-year tenure at SFA. The only other Lumberjack over 6-9 to play under Kaspar is Stephen Cobb, a 6-11 center who was on the team when Kaspar took over.
ATTENDANCE: SFA ranked second in the Southland Conference last season in average attendance, drawing 3,140 fans per home game.
SITTIN' ON TWENTY: SFA's win over Central Arkansas last season on March 4 gave the Lumberjacks their second straight 20-win season and the fourth in nine seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar. At 24-8 overall, SFA finished as the only team in the Southland Conference with single digits in the loss column.
HOME OPENER: SFA will play the first of three straight home games when the Lumberjacks host Jackson State on Nov. 21. SFA defeated Howard Payne, 77-38, in the 2008-09 season opener. Head coach Danny Kaspar's teams are 9-0 in home openers at SFA. The last time an SFA team failed to win its home opener was a 67-55 loss to Texas A&M in 1998.
SAFE AT HOME: In nine seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar, the Lumberjacks have compiled a 101-27 (.789) record in the William R. Johnson Coliseum. SFA is 297-118 (.716) all-time in the Coliseum. The Lumberjacks finished the 2008-09 home slate with a perfect 13-0 record, marking the fourth straight season and the sixth time in seven years for SFA to post double-digit wins at home.
RANK AND FILE: The Lumberjacks received 15 votes in the first CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll of the season. SFA finished three spots outside the final poll of 2008-09 with 30 votes. Three weeks before that, the 'Jacks fell out of the poll for the first time in over a year. SFA spent 25 consecutive weeks in the poll after breaking in during December of the 2007-08 season. SFA began last season at No. 11, the first time in the poll's 10-year history for SFA to enter the season as a ranked team and the highest entry to the poll for a Lumberjack team to date. In December of last season, SFA was ranked No. 10, marking the earliest move into the top 10 for the `Jacks since the poll began.
-- SFA --
