SFA To Host Jackson State
11/20/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 20, 2009
NACOGDOCHES, Texas -
Complete Release in PDF Format 
VITALS
Jackson State at Stephen F. Austin
Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009 • 7:00 p.m. (CST)
William R. Johnson Coliseum (7,200) • Nacogdoches, Texas
Radio: None • Television: None • Online: SFA All-Access
Lumberjacks
Record: 0-1
Last 5/Streak: 3-2/L2*
Coach: Danny Kaspar
Career: 377-157
At SFA: 158-105
SID: Brian Ross
E-mail: rossbrian@sfasu.edu
Web: sfajacks.com
Tigers
Record: 0-2
Last 5/Streak: 2-3/L2*
Coach: Tevester Anderson
Career: 198-154
At JSU: 95-102
SID: Wesley Peterson
E-mail: wesley.peterson@jsums.edu
Web: jsutigers.com
* 2008-09 results included
GAME INFORMATION
HOME STAND: The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack basketball team will start a three-game home stand Saturday, when the 'Jacks take on Jackson State. Both teams are still looking for their first win of the season. SFA is 0-1, coming off its season-opening loss at Minnesota. The Tigers bring an 0-2 mark to the contest. Saturday's game is the first of two meetings this season.
LAST GAME: After battling No. 18 Minnesota to a seven-point halftime margin, the Lumberjacks were outscored, 56-23, in the second half on the way to an 82-42 final margin. The defeat broke a four-year streak of season-opening wins for SFA. The Gophers held a 26-19 lead at the break, but Minnesota opened the second half with a 16-0 run and shot 61 percent after halftime to put the game away. The Gophers were aided by a 26-8 advantage in points off turnovers. SFA shot just 30.6 percent from the floor and was outrebounded, 34-26, by Minnesota. Eddie Williams scored 12 points and pulled down five rebounds to lead SFA. Jereal Scott joined him with five boards.
THE TIGERS: Jackson State is 0-2 on the year with losses at Memphis and Alabama. The Tigers return three starters and 10 lettermen from last year's 18-15 team and are projected to win the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Senior forward Grant Maxey was voted the league's preseason player of the year, and sophomore guard Rod Melvin joined him on the preseason all-conference team.
vs. JACKSON STATE: SFA is 4-3, all-time, against the Tigers. The 'Jacks have won three straight in the series and are 3-1 in home games against Jackson State. SFA's last loss to the Tigers was a 68-64 defeat in Jackson, Miss., during the 2005-06 season.
COVERAGE: Saturday's game will be available online via GameTracker and SFA All-Access on the SFA Athletics Web site, www.sfajacks.com.
GameTracker
SFA All-Access
UP NEXT: SFA will wrap up its three-game home stand with two games next week. The 'Jacks host Texas Tech Tuesday in a 7 p.m. contest, then entertain Huston-Tillotson on Saturday. The game against the Rams is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start.
NEWS AND NOTES
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.
RECORD LOWS IN MINNESOTA: SFA's 82-42 loss at Minnesota goes into the books as the worst margin of defeat in nine-plus seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar. The previous record was a 31-point defeat (92-61) at Arizona in the first game of the 2001-02 season. In all, the 'Jacks have suffered just 12 losses by 20 or more points, and only two by 30 or more, in 263 games under Kaspar.
SEASON OPENERS: SFA is 6-4 in season-opening games under head coach Danny Kaspar. The Lumberjacks have compiled an 11-13 record in season openers as a Division I program (since 1986-87 season). SFA is 1-4 under Kaspar when opening on the road and is just 1-7, 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.
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.
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 but did not earn any votes in this week's poll. 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.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
FOR THE RECORD: Jackson State brings an 0-2 record to Saturday's game. The Tigers are coming off an 86-69 loss at Alabama on Tuesday night. Last week, Jackson State opened the season with an 82-53 defeat at Memphis. Saturday's meeting with the Lumberjacks is the third game of a season-opening four-contest road swing. The Tigers will finish the trip on Nov. 24 at North Texas then host Stephen F. Austin in their first home game of the season on Dec. 2.
LAST GAME: Jackson State opened with a 44-percent effort from the floor in the first half against Alabama and only trailed the Tide by five, 40-35, at the break. But the Tigers' shooting fell to 38 percent in the second period, while Alabama held steady at 53 percent to pull away for the 17-point victory. Jackson State finished with a 42-32 edge in rebounding but was done in by a 4-for-16 effort from 3-point range and 13 turnovers. Senior guard Garrison Johnson was 10-for-22 for a game-high 29 points to lead the Tigers. Junior forward Tyrone Hanson finished with eight points and a game-best eight rebounds.
KEY NUMBERS: Jackson State has attempted 120 field goals against just 107 for the opposition. But the Tigers are hitting just 39 percent from the floor and 29 percent from 3-point range. Jackson State also averages 16.5 turnovers per contest. The Tigers commit an average of 26 fouls per game, which has led to an 80-32 edge for their opponents in free throw attempts. Jackson State has been outscored, 49-20, at the stripe this season. The Tigers score an average of 0.87 points per possession while allowing 1.2 points per touch to the opposition.
LEADERS: Senior guard Garrison Johnson has averaged 22.5 points over the Tigers' first two games. He led Jackson State in both games, scoring 16 points in the loss to Memphis and a game-high 29 against Alabama. He is the only Tigers player to have attempted more than 15 shots through two games, having connected on 16 of 39 attempts for a .410 average. Johnson is also the team leader with three steals. Junior forward Tyrone Hanson leads the Tigers with five rebounds per contest, and sophomore guard Rod Melvin's eight assists are tops on the team.
OF NOTE: SFA enters Saturday's contest on a 14-game home winning streak. The 'Jacks have not lost a home game since their 75-65 defeat against UT Arlington in the second-to-last home contest of the 2007-08 season. SFA held the nation's longest home winning streak at 31 games during the 2004-05 season, but Jackson State ended the run with a 58-54 verdict on Dec. 11. Since that game, SFA has gone 26-1 in home, non-conference meetings with the only loss coming against North Texas (76-70) in the 2006-07 season.
-- SFA --
