GAME NOTES: at Northwestern State
1/26/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 26, 2010
NACOGDOCHES, Texas -
Complete Release in PDF Format 
VITALS
Stephen F. Austin at Northwestern State
Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010 • 7:00 p.m. (CST)
Prather Coliseum (3,600) • Natchitoches, La.
Radio: KTBQ 107.7-FM • TV: None • Online: NSUDemons.com
Lumberjacks
Record: 13-5 (3-2)
Last 5/Streak: 3-2/W2
Coach: Danny Kaspar
Career: 390-161
At SFA: 171-109
SID: Brian Ross
E-mail: rossbrian@sfasu.edu
Web: sfajacks.com
Demons
Record: 6-11 (1-3)
Last 5/Streak: 1-4/W1
Coach: Mike McConathy
Career: 514-325
At NWLA: 162-166
SID: Doug Ireland
E-mail: ireland@nsula.edu
Web: nsudemons.com
GAME INFORMATION
NEIGHBORHOOD HOOPS: The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack basketball team will make the short drive east Wednesday to take on neighboring Northwestern State in a Southland Conference East Division showdown. The 'Jacks lead the division with a 3-2 Southland record and are 13-5 overall. Northwestern State is 1-3 in league play with a 6-11 season mark.
LAST GAME: SFA outrebounded Southeastern Louisiana, 36-19, and got 18 points from Walt Harris in a 62-51 win over the Lions Saturday. Harris tied a career-high with four 3-pointers, and the 'Jacks used their large rebounding advantage to overcome a 51-percent shooting effort by Southeastern. SFA pulled down 17 rebounds on offense and outscored the Lions, 18-2, in second-chance points. Jereal Scott scored 12 points to join Harris in double digits, and Jordan Glynn pulled down a game-best 12 rebounds, including six on offense. Eric Bell dished out seven assists for the 'Jacks, his best total since handing out eight against Longwood in December.
THE DEMONS: Northwestern State is coming off a one-point, double-overtime win against Nicholls on Saturday. That was the Demons' first Southland Conference win and their first victory in seven tries. Northwestern comes into Wednesday's game fifth in the SLC East but only two-and-a-half games behind first-place SFA.
vs. NORTHWESTERN STATE: The Lumberjacks trail the all-time series with Northwestern State, 48-59. The Demons have won six of the last 10 meetings, but SFA has won three of the last four games, including both contests last season. The 'Jacks are 8-9 against Northwestern in 10 seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar. During that time, SFA is 4-3 in games at Prather Coliseum.
COVERAGE: The broadcast of Wednesday's game is available via KTBQ 107.7-FM. Rob Meyers has the call. Live streaming video and Live Stats will be available on the Northwestern State Web site, NSUDemons.com.
UP NEXT: SFA will take on McNeese State on the road Sunday at 3 p.m. The game will be played in the Lake Charles Civic Center due to a scheduling conflict at Burton Coliseum. The 'Jacks will then begin the second round of Southland Conference East action with a home game against Nicholls on Feb. 3.
NEWS AND NOTES
BELOW-BOARD: SFA outrebounded Southeastern Louisiana, 36-19. That marks the first time all season for the Lumberjacks to hold an opponent to fewer than 20 rebounds in a game. The 17-rebound margin is the second-largest of the season and the widest margin since outrebounding Huston-Tillotson by 24 in November. Southeastern's 19 boards are the fewest recorded by an SFA foe since SFA outrebounded UTSA, 40-18, in a 60-39 win during the 2007-08 season.
SOUTHLAND STREAKS: There are six programs in the 12-team Southland Conference against whom SFA currently holds a winning streak of at least four straight games. SFA has won four straight against Lamar and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, five straight against Central Arkansas and UTSA, six in a row against Southeastern Louisiana and has recorded 10 consecutive victories against Texas State. The 'Jacks have not lost to Texas State since the 2002-03 season and are 14-2 overall against the Bobcats in Danny Kaspar's tenure.
BOARDED UP: Eddie Williams pulled down 12 rebounds, and Jordan Glynn grabbed 10 in SFA's win over UT Arlington. That marks the first time this season for two Lumberjacks to record double-figure rebounds in a single game. The last time a pair of SFA players accomplished that feat was in the 2008-09 regular-season finale when Josh Alexander and Matt Kingsley each eclipsed the 10-rebound plateau. The 'Jacks had more than one player reach double digits in rebounding on five occasions last season.
STRAIGHT SHOOTING: SFA shot 47.6 percent (20-of-42) in its loss at Nicholls. That marks the first time in more than a season for the 'Jacks to hit at least 45 percent from the field in a losing effort. SFA went 14-0 in such performances last season and had an 8-0 mark in such games heading into the Nicholls match-up. The only other time in the last three seasons a Lumberjack team has shot that well and lost came in the Southland Conference Tournament semifinals in 2008, when SFA shot 50 percent in a defeat against Northwestern State. The 'Jacks went 16-1 that season when shooting better than 45 percent and, in all, are 38-2 in such games over the last three seasons.
BEAR TRAP: SFA took a 64-49 win at home against Central Arkansas. That moved the 'Jacks to 5-0, all-time, against the Bears and 3-0 in home games. In those three games, UCA has never scored more than 50 points, and the Bears have a combined shooting percentage of .257. In all three games, UCA has been held below 20 points in the first half, including a seven-point first half in last year's meeting.
HOME IS WHERE CHAMPIONSHIPS ARE WON: Over the course of their two Southland Conference championship campaigns in the previous two seasons, the Lumberjacks went 15-1 in home conference games, including a perfect 8-0 record last season. This season, the 'Jacks are out to a 3-0 start in home league games. In all, SFA is 60-24 in Southland games at home in 10 years under head coach Danny Kaspar.
STREAK-STOPPER: SFA's loss at Sam Houston State snapped a streak of eight straight wins against Southland Conference foes. Including three victories at the Southland Tournament last March, the 'Jacks had not lost against a league opponent since a 59-56 defeat at McNeese State on Feb. 14. The Bearkats are also the first Southland Conference West Division team to defeat SFA since UT Arlington knocked off the 'Jacks early in last year's conference slate. SFA had won six straight and 10 of its last 11 games against SLC West foes.
TEN WINS: SFA entered Southland Conference play with double figures in the win column this season for just the second time in the program's tenure at the Division I level. The Lumberjacks' only other 10-win pre-conference slate came in 2007-08, when they went 12-2 before opening league play.
ON THE REBOUND: Junior Jordan Glynn pulled down a career-high 21 rebounds against Texas College. This marks the first time since 1995 for a Lumberjack to grab at least 20 boards. That performance was turned in by Javan Rouzan in an 80-75 win over Baylor. Glynn has posted eight double-doubles and 10 double-figure rebounding games.
STEADY EDDIE: A back injury forced junior guard Eddie Williams to miss SFA's game against Texas College. That marked the first time in his three-year career for Williams to miss action. He had played in all 76 games -- including 32 in each of his first two seasons -- coming into the contest against the Steers. He has now played in 81 total games as a Lumberjack.
ALL-TOURNAMENT: After leading SFA in scoring in both its games at the Saint Mary's Shamrock Classic, junior guard Eddie Williams was named to the all-tournament team. This marks the third all-tournament team selection in the last two seasons for Williams. He was chosen to the Drake Hy-Vee Classic squad last season and then earned All-SLC Tournament honors in the postseason.
TOURNAMENT TEAM: Following wins over Howard and Binghamton in the Saint Mary's Shamrock Classic, SFA is 7-1 in four regular-season, tournament-style events over the last two campaigns. The Lumberjacks won two games to capture the Drake Hy-Vee Classic championship last season, then split a pair of contests at the Arkansas Jim Thorpe Classic. Earlier this season, SFA notched wins over Southern and Cal State Fullerton to win the inaugural Etech Lumberjack Classic.
HITTIN' A HUNDRED: The Lumberjacks' 102-point outburst against East Central marks SFA's first triple-digit scoring performance in a regulation game since defeating Paul Quinn, 101-48, in the 2005-06 season. In all, SFA has broken 100 points in regulation six times in 10 seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar. The only Division I opponent to give up triple digits against SFA in that span is Jackson State, who suffered a 103-79 defeat in the 2002-03 campaign. The Lumberjacks' highest-scoring regulation game was a 108-51 win over Oklahoma Panhandle State in the 2003-04 campaign.
BLOCKED UP: Freshman Will Reinke blocked a career-high four shots in SFA's win over East Central. He knocked down three attempts against Texas College. Reinke now has 16 blocks for the season, an average of 0.9 per game, which ranks seventh in the Southland. He has posted five multi-block games this season. Assuming he can maintain his current pace, Reinke will finish the season among the top six on SFA's Division I-era single-season blocks list.
BAD BREAK: The halftime break in SFA's game at Arkansas hurt the Lumberjacks' momentum. SFA went to the locker room with a 33-28 lead but was outscored, 44-36, in the second period of a 72-69 defeat. After shooting 48 percent in the opening half, the 'Jacks slumped to 39 percent after halftime, while the Razorbacks went from 34 percent in first frame to 67 percent following the break. The defeat marks the only time in 11 games this season for SFA to lose a game that it led at the break.
DOUBLING UP: Earlier this season, junior forward Jordan Glynn put together a streak never before seen in Danny Kaspar's 10 seasons as head coach at SFA. Finishing with his 20-point, 13-rebound performance against East Central, Glynn posted five straight double-doubles and six consecutive games with at least 10 rebounds. Prior to this season, no other Lumberjack on a Kaspar-coached team had put together more than two consecutive double-digit rebounding efforts.
TRIPLE THREAT: The Lumberjacks defended the 3-point arc better than any team in the country in 2008-09. SFA led the nation by holding opponents to 26.6 percent from 3-point range last season. Through 18 games in 2009-10, Lumberjack foes are hitting 36.3 percent from behind the arc. That figure stands 267th out of 334 Division I teams in the country, as ranked by the NCAA through games of Jan. 21.
WIN STREAKS: The loss at Arkansas ended SFA's early-season win streak at five games. SFA's longest winning streak last season was eight games, a run that went through the end of the regular season and Southland Conference Tournament before ending in a first-round NCAA Tournament loss against Syracuse.
ROAD-TESTED: SFA finished non-conference play with a 2-2 record in road games with the only losses coming in the season opener against No. 18 Minnesota and at Arkansas. The Lumberjacks defeated Jackson State and Longwood on the road. SFA was 1-4 in road, non-conference games a year ago with the only win coming at Drake. In 10 seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar, the only other time a Lumberjack team has won more than one road non-conference contest in a single season was 2007-08, when the 'Jacks went 5-2 in such games.
FIRST-TIMERS: SFA opened 2009-10 season with four first-time opponents on the schedule -- Cal State Fullerton, Longwood, Howard and Binghamton. With two wins at the Saint Mary's Shamrock Classic, the 'Jacks finished 4-0 against their first-time foes.
TOURNAMENT TRENDS: SFA went 2-0 in the inaugural Etech Lumberjack Classic, taking wins against Southern and Cal State Fullerton. That performance moved the 'Jacks to 8-0, all-time, in home regular-season tournament contests. The Etech Classic marked SFA's first home tournament since the Tall Pines Classic in the 1976-77 season.
PERFECTION: Junior point guard Denzel Barnes put up the most efficient performance of the young season in SFA's win over Southern. Barnes came off the bench and hit all six of his field goal attempts, including two 3-pointers, to put up a game-high 14 points in just 13 minutes of action. In three games that week, Barnes shot .632 from the field, .714 from 3-point range and went 7-for-7 at the foul stripe to average 12 points per contest.
TWENTY-SOMETHING: Eddie Williams scored 24 points against Jackson State. That marked the first 20-point performance by a Lumberjack this season and the first since Matt Kingsley put up 20 against UTSA in the championship game of last year's Southland Conference Tournament. Including his 20 points at Sam Houston State, Williams has broken the 20-point barrier four times in his career, twice hitting a career-high 25 points last season. Walt Harris has scored 20 or more twice this year, hitting 20 against Cal State Fullerton and 22 at Arkansas. Junior forward Jordan Glynn scored 20 points against East Central.
HALF FULL: SFA trailed at halftime in both its games against Jackson State, but the 'Jacks came back to win in both contests, as they did in their victory at Longwood. SFA is now 3-4 this year when trailing at the half. The 'Jacks went just 1-4 in such situations all of last season.
COMEBACK: SFA didn't hold a lead in the second half of its home win against Jackson State until Jordan Glynn gave the Lumberjacks the lead with 1.1 seconds left. The 'Jacks are 2-5 this season in games when they trail in the final five minutes. SFA came from behind in the final five minutes just one time in the 2008-09 season.
HIGH PERCENTAGE: SFA shot a season-best .585 from the field in its win over Huston-Tillotson. The .585 shooting percentage is SFA's best since shooting .630 in an 82-67 win at Jackson State during the 2007-08 season. The 'Jacks are 8-1 this season when shooting 45 percent or better, including six wins with a shooting percentage above .500.
SLIGHT BLOCKAGE: Coming into its game with Texas Tech, SFA had gone the first two contests of the season without registering a blocked shot. But the 'Jacks swatted two attempts against Tech. The first Lumberjack to record a block in the 2009-10 campaign? Five-foot, three-inch Eric Bell. The SFA point guard knocked down a shot by Tech's John Roberson on the Red Raiders' second possession. It was Bell's fourth career rejection and his first since turning away a shot at Southeastern Louisiana in the 2007-08 season.Two of his five career blocks have come against Big 12 competition, as Bell registered a block in SFA's win at Oklahoma in 2007-08.
HOME-WRECKERS: SFA brought a 15-game homecourt winning streak into its game with Texas Tech, and the Lumberjacks had not lost a home, non-conference game since the 2006-07 campaign. But the Red Raiders left Johnson Coliseum with a 63-61 win, marking the first SFA home loss since a 75-65 defeat against UT Arlington in the second-to-last home game of the 2007-08 season. The Lumberjacks went 13-0 at home last season. SFA is now 30-2 in its last 32 home, non-conference match-ups, and the 'Jacks are 53-4, overall, in such games during 10 seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar.
HOME OPENER: SFA knocked off Jackson State, 62-61, in the 2009-10 home opener. Head coach Danny Kaspar's teams are 10-0 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 10 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 264 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.
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.
SAFE AT HOME: In nine-plus seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar, the Lumberjacks have compiled a 110-28 (.797) record in the William R. Johnson Coliseum. SFA is 306-119 (.720) 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.
SCOUTING THE DEMONS
FOR THE RECORD: Northwestern State comes into the game with a 6-11 season mark and a 1-3 record in Southland Conference play. The Demons are coming off their first league win -- a 99-98 double-overtime verdict over Nicholls on Saturday. That victory broke a six-game losing streak for Northwestern. The six-game slide is the longest of the season for the Demons, but three of the last four losses had been by seven points or fewer with the only double-digit margin in the last five contests coming in a 98-83 decision at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Northwestern is 5-3 in home games with wins over East Texas Baptist, Houston Baptist, LSU-Shreveport, Missouri Valley and Nicholls.
LAST GAME: Northwestern State erased seven-point deficits at the end of regulation and the first overtime period before putting Nicholls away with a free throw for a 99-98 double-overtime win Saturday in Natchitoches. The Demons shot 60.3 percent for the game to overcome a Prather Coliseum-record 46-point performance by Nicholls' Anatoly Bose. Damon Jones came off the bench to score a team-leading 25 points for Northwestern. Will Pratt added 22, and Devon Baker -- who hit the game-winning free throw with one second left after tying the score with a layup at the end of regulation -- finished with 17 points. Twelve Demons saw action in the game, and the Northwestern bench outscored the Nicholls reserves, 34-15.
KEY NUMBERS: The Demons rank third in the Southland in scoring at 75.6 points per game, but their opponents' 80.2 scoring average is last in the league. Northwestern stands second in the conference in blocked shots (4.5 bpg) and third in steals (8.3 spg), but the Demons are 10th in the league in field goal percentage defense (.446). Northwestern's .604 free throw percentage ranks last in the Southland.
LEADERS: Senior guard Damon Jones leads the Demons and ranks eighth in the Southland with 14.0 points per game. Sophomore center William Mosley's 7.8 rebounds per contest are seventh in the league. Senior guard Michael McConathy is seventh in the conference with 1.5 steals per game and ranks fourth in the league with a .457 shooting percentage from 3-point range.
-- SFA --
