GAME NOTES: at Sam Houston State
1/8/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 8, 2010
NACOGDOCHES, Texas -
Complete Release in PDF Format 
VITALS
Stephen F. Austin at Sam Houston State
Saturday, Jan. 9, 2010 • 2:00 p.m. (CST)
Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum (6,100) • Huntsville, Texas
Radio: KTBQ 107.7-FM • TV: SLC-TV • Online: SLC NOW
Lumberjacks
Record: 10-3
Last 5/Streak: 4-1/W4
Coach: Danny Kaspar
Career: 387-159
At SFA: 168-107
SID: Brian Ross
E-mail: rossbrian@sfasu.edu
Web: sfajacks.com
Bearkats
Record: 8-5
Last 5/Streak: 3-2/L2
Coach: Bob Marlin
Career: 321-163
At SHSU: 208-128
SID: Paul Ridings
E-mail: ridings@shsu.edu
Web: gobearkats.com
GAME INFORMATION
SOUTHLAND SHOWDOWN: The Southland Conference schedule begins this weekend with a heavyweight clash between two of the top teams in the league. When Stephen F. Austin takes on Sam Houston State Saturday, the game will pit the league's two preseason favorites, as well as its division champions from a year ago. The Lumberjacks won the Southland East Division in 2009, and Sam Houston captured the West Division. Each team was projected to repeat in its respective division in preseason polling this year. The 'Jacks bring a Southland East-leading 10-3 record to the contest. Sam Houston comes in at 8-5, the second-best mark in the West.
LAST GAME: SFA shot 52 percent in the second half to hold off Texas College for a 73-64 win on Saturday, marking the Lumberjacks' fourth straight victory. Junior forward Jordan Glynn scored 18 points and pulled down a career-high 21 rebounds to lead the Lumberjacks' second-half push. SFA's other two double-digit scorers each did the bulk of their damage after halftime. Jereal Scott scored 12 of his 16 points in the second period, and all 14 of Walt Harris' points came after the break. The 'Jacks went inside-out in the second half. After going to the locker room with a two-point deficit in points in the paint, SFA outscored the Steers, 24-18, down low in the second period and didn't hit a single 3-pointer after halftime.
THE BEARKATS: After posting some strong early-season performances against big-time competition, Sam Houston is trying to rally from two straight losses. The Bearkats went into the Christmas break with a three-game win streak that included a road win over Auburn, but they have dropped consecutive games at Wright State and Western Michigan since resuming play. Sam Houston is the highest-scoring team in the Southland Conference and ranks among the nation's top 10 in 3-pointers per game.
vs. SAM HOUSTON STATE: SFA is 92-88, all-time, against the Bearkats in a series that began in 1925. Since joining the Division I ranks for the 1986-87 season, the Lumberjacks are 21-26 against Sam Houston. The 'Jacks have won each of the last two meetings, both of which were played in Nacogdoches. The Bearkats have won six of the last 10 games, including four straight before SFA's current two-game run. The last time a Lumberjack team won in Huntsville was a 73-72 decision in the 2005-06 season. SFA is 2-8 in 10 road games against the Bearkats during head coach Danny Kaspar's tenure.
COVERAGE: Saturday's game will be available via television, radio and live internet stream. The game marks the first SLC-TV basketball broadcast of the season and will also be available for free on SLC NOW, the Southland's online streaming platform. The radio broadcast will air live on KTBQ 107.7-FM. Rob Meyers has the call.
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Listen live on Q107.7 (Click "Listen Live" near the upper left-hand corner)
Live chat on SFAJacks.com
Live Stats on GoBearkats.com
UP NEXT: SFA will play its first home Southland game on Wednesday, when the 'Jacks host Central Arkansas. The game against the Bears is slated to begin at 7 p.m. Following that game, SFA will travel to Thibodaux, La., to take on Nicholls on Jan. 16. The game against the Colonels is set for a noon start.
NEWS AND NOTES
TEN WINS: SFA enters 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 six double-doubles and seven double-figure rebounding games -- both league highs.
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.
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 14 blocks for the season, an average of 1.1 per game. He has posted four multi-block games this season. Assuming he can maintain his current pace, Reinke will finish the season among the top five 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 first time 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 13 games in 2009-10, Lumberjack foes are hitting 41.1 percent from behind the arc. That figure stands 328th out of 334 Division I teams in the country, as ranked by the NCAA through games of Jan. 3.
WIN STREAKS: The loss at Arkansas ended SFA's early-season win streak at five games. The Lumberjacks are currently on a four-game run. A win at Sam Houston State would give SFA two separate streaks of five or more wins for the third consecutive season. 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 is 2-2 so far in road games with the only losses having come in the season opener against No. 18 Minnesota and at Arkansas. The Lumberjacks have 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. Williams has broken the 20-point barrier three 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 3-2 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 2-3 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 7-0 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.
RANK AND FILE: The Lumberjacks received 32 votes in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 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.
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.
ATTENDANCE: SFA ranked second in the Southland Conference last season in average attendance, drawing 3,140 fans per home game. So far this season, the 'Jacks average 1,995 fans per contest.
SAFE AT HOME: In nine-plus seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar, the Lumberjacks have compiled a 107-28 (.793) record in the William R. Johnson Coliseum. SFA is 303-119 (.718) 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 BEARKATS
FOR THE RECORD: Sam Houston State is 8-5 on the season, the second-best non-conference record in the Southland Conference West Division. The Bearkats' eight victories include neutral-site wins over Oral Roberts and Rider and an impressive 107-89 verdict at Auburn. In the third game of the year, Sam Houston played Kentucky to a 10-point loss (102-92) in a game that saw the 'Kats set a Rupp Arena record with 18 3-pointers. Sam Houston enters league play having lost two straight games. The Bearkats fell, 88-44, at Wright State on Dec. 28, then dropped a 74-73 decision at Western Michigan on Jan. 3.
LAST GAME: Sam Houston took a 12-point lead to the locker room at halftime but was outscored, 39-26, in the second half of a 74-73 loss at Western Michigan on Sunday. After going 7-for-15 from 3-point range in the first period, the Bearkats fell to 25 percent from downtown after halftime. Meanwhile, Western Michigan heated up to 53.8 percent in the second period. The Broncos out-rebounded Sam Houston, 39-28. Corey Allmond went 4-of-9 from 3-point range to finish with a team-leading 22 points. Ashton Mitchell dished out eight assists. Western Michigan's David Kool scored 31 points -- including the game-winner with four seconds remaining -- to lead all players.
KEY NUMBERS: The Bearkats rank 37th in the country in scoring offense with 79.5 points per game, largely on the strength of some of the best 3-point shooting in the nation. Sam Houston's .401 average from beyond the arc ranks 30th nationally, and the Bearkats' 9.5 made 3-pointers per game stands ninth in the nation. Sam Houston leads the country in assists with 21.1 dimes per game, and its 1.58 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks fourth nationally.
LEADERS: Senior guard Corey Allmond and junior forward Gilberto Clavell make Sam Houston one of just two teams in the Southland Conference with two players ranked among the league's top 10 scorers. Allmond ranks fourth in the SLC with 16.6 points per game, and Clavell is sixth with 15.6 points per contest. Allmond leads the conference and ranks sixth in the nation with 3.5 3-pointers per game. Clavell's .556 shooting percentage is sixth in the Southland and ranks 40th in the country. Three Bearkats rank among the conference's top 10 in assists. Senior guard Ashton Mitchell leads the league with 4.6 per game, sophomore Drae Murray is tied for second with 4.4 per outing, and junior Josten Crow ranks seventh with 3.7 dimes per game.
-- SFA --
