GAME NOTES: at Texas State
2/23/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 23, 2010
NACOGDOCHES, Texas -
Complete Release in PDF Format 
VITALS
Stephen F. Austin at Texas State
Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2010 • 7:00 p.m. (CST)
Strahan Coliseum (7,200) • San Marcos, Texas
Radio: KTBQ 107.7-FM • TV: None • Online: TXST All-Access
Lumberjacks
Record: 18-7 (8-4)
Last 5/Streak: 3-2/L1
Coach: Danny Kaspar
Career: 395-163
At SFA: 176-111
SID: Brian Ross
E-mail: rossbrian@sfasu.edu
Web: sfajacks.com
Bobcats
Record: 12-14 (6-6)
Last 5/Streak: 3-2/L1
Coach: Doug Davalos
Career: 120-101
At TXST: 48-66
SID: Rick Poulter
E-mail: rpoulter@txstate.edu
Web: txstatebobcats.com
GAME INFORMATION
CRUNCH TIME: The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack basketball team heads into the final two weeks of the season as the second-place team in the Southland Conference and clinging to a one-game lead over a trio of challengers in third place. The 'Jacks are 18-7 on the year with an 8-4 record in Southland play that has SFA on top of the Eastern Division. Wednesday's opponent, Texas State, is 12-14 overall and fighting for a Southland Tournament berth with a 6-6 league record. The Bobcats are currently tied for fourth in the SLC West and part of a tie for sixth in the league's overall standings.
LAST GAME: SFA posted its worst shooting performance since the season opener, hitting just 33 percent in a 66-56 loss at Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday. The Lumberjacks trailed, 19-17, at the break marking the second time in four SFA games for neither team to break 20 points in the first half. But the Lions shot 70 percent in the second period to score 47 points, the second-highest second-half total allowed by the 'Jacks this season. Southeastern's Patrick Sullivan scored 20 points to lead all players. Eddie Williams led SFA with 16 points, and Jereal Scott added 14. Jordan Glynn pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds.
THE BOBCATS: Texas State sets the fastest tempo in the Southland Conference, as the Bobcats average more than 77 possessions per game. The Bobcats are in position to earn a Southland Tournament berth, but they've dropped two of their last three games and four of their last six.
vs. TEXAS STATE: SFA is 95-66, all-time, against the Bobcats. The Lumberjacks have won 10 straight against Texas State and are 14-2 in the series during head coach Danny Kaspar's tenure. The last time SFA lost to Texas State was a 60-58 decision in San Marcos in the 2002-03 season. The 'Jacks are 6-1 against the Bobcats in road games under Kaspar.
COVERAGE: Wednesday's game will be broadcast live on KTBQ 107.7-FM. Rob Meyers has the call. The live video stream will be available online via Texas State All-Access.
UP NEXT: SFA will host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Saturday in the SLC-TV Toyota Game of the Week. The game is set to start at 2 p.m.
NEWS AND NOTES
MISFIRE: SFA shot just 33 percent in its 66-56 loss at Southeastern Louisiana. That's the Lumberjacks worst performance from the field since shooting 31 percent against Minnesota in the season opener. Those are the only two games this season in which SFA has shot 35 percent.
SOUTHLAND STREAKS: There are five 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 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Northwestern State, five straight against Central Arkansas and UTSA, 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.
MILESTONE APPROACHING: Head coach Danny Kaspar is closing in on his 400th career win. With 395 to this point, Kaspar could reach the 400-win plateau by the end of the season, as SFA has four games left on the schedule and the potential for at least three games in the Southland Conference Tournament. Kaspar has at least a .500 record or better against each of the teams remaining on the Lumberjacks' schedule, and SFA holds at least a four-game win streak in the series history against all four remaining opponents.
SITTIN' ON 20: With two more victories, SFA can break the 20-win barrier for the third consecutive season and the fifth time in Danny Kaspar's 10 years as head coach. Prior to Kaspar's tenure, the only 20-win season in the program's history at the Division I level was the 22-8 record put up by the 'Jacks in the 1986-87 campaign, the program's first as a D-I team.
HIGH PERCENTAGE: SFA shot a season-best .595 from the field in its win over McNeese State. The .595 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 12-1 this season when shooting 45 percent or better, including eight wins with a shooting percentage above .500.
CLEANING GLASS: SFA shot just 37.1 percent against Northwestern State, marking the Lumberjacks' worst shooting percentage in a winning effort this season. SFA survived by hitting the boards. The 'Jacks tied a season-high with 50 rebounds, and their offensive boards outnumberd the defensive boards, 26-24. SFA finished with a 20-9 advantage in second-chance scoring.
BOARDED UP: Orren Tims pulled down 11 rebounds and Jordan Glynn and Jereal Scott each recorded 10 boards in SFA's win over Northwestern State. That marked the first time this season, and just the second time in 10 years under Danny Kaspar, for three 'Jacks to break the 10-rebound barrier in a single game. The only other time SFA has accomplished that feat also came against Northwestern State, when Josh Alexander, Matt Kingsley and Nick Shaw each grabbed 10 boards in a meeting last season. In all, SFA has posted three games this season with multiple players recording double-digit rebounding efforts.
WHERE'D THE "O" GO? : SFA is undefeated at 9-0 this season when scoring at least 70 points. But the `Jacks are just 9-7 when scoring 69 points or fewer and are 0-4 when scoring fewer than 60. Over the previous two seasons, when SFA consistently ranked among the top defensive teams in the country, the `Jacks won nine games in which they scored fewer than 60 points.
REBOUNDING: Lamar finished with a 37-22 edge in rebounding, marking the first time in eight games for SFA to be outrebounded. Lamar's 15-rebound margin is the largest for an SFA opponent this season. Two games later, the 'Jacks were outrebounded, 32-21, by McNeese State but won the game. Despite the season-low 21 boards, SFA won the game, 69-56, marking just the second time in five games for the 'Jacks to win when getting outrebounded.
HALF-EMPTY: The first half of SFA's losses at Lamar and Southeastern Louisiana ended before either team could break the 20-point barrier. SFA trailed, 17-16, against Lamar and 19-17 against Southeastern Louisiana. Those games marked the third and fifth times, respectively, this season for a Lumberjack opponent to score fewer than 20 points in the first half and the second and third times this year for the `Jacks to score fewer than 20. Those are the only times this season for both teams to fail to break the 20-point barrier in the first period.
WIN STREAKS: The loss at Arkansas ended SFA's early-season win streak at five games. SFA matched that run with its recent five-game streak, all in Southland play. The run ended with a three-point loss at Lamar. 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.
BONUS BASKETBALL: SFA's 68-67 overtime win against Nicholls marked the fourth straight season for the Lumberjacks to play at least one overtime contest. SFA has played in five such contests since the 2006-07 season and has a 4-1 record in those games.
HARRIS' HEROICS: When Walt Harris hit the game-winning 3-pointer in SFA's overtime win against Nicholls, it wasn't the first such shot of his career. He also sank the game-clinching shot in the Lumberjacks' 112-111 triple-overtime victory against North Dakota State last season at the Drake Hy-Vee Classic. The following night, he provided the final margin with a layup and free throw in the final 20 seconds of a 66-64 win against Drake.
SOUTHLAND SWITCH: Through 13 non-conference games, SFA opponents shot .399 from 3-point range, a percentage that was close to dead-last in the country. Through 12 conference games, Lumberjack foes have connected on just 29.4 percent of their 3-point attempts, which ranks fourth in the league.
SPRAINED ARCHES: SFA held Northwestern State to an 0-for-11 performance from 3-point range in their meeting in Natchitoches. That marked the first time this season for the `Jacks to hold the opposition without a 3-pointer. It's also the second time in two seasons SFA's defense has victimized the Demons in such a manner. The Lumberjacks held Northwestern to an identical 0-for-11 showing on 3-pointers in their meeting in Nacogdoches last season. In all, the Demons were 2-for-36 (.056) from 3-point range in the three-game stretch against the `Jacks that included those contests.
BELOW-BOARD: SFA outrebounded Southeastern Louisiana, 36-19. That marked the first time all season for the Lumberjacks to hold an opponent to fewer than 20 rebounds in a game. SFA repeated that feat against Nicholls, registering a 31-19 edge in rebounding. Those two 19-board performances are the fewest recorded by an SFA foe since SFA outrebounded UTSA, 40-18, in a 60-39 win during the 2007-08 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 this year, 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 41-2 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 6-0 start in home league games. In all, SFA is 63-24 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 nine double-doubles and 11 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 88 total games with 47 starting appearances 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 22 blocks for the season, an average of 0.9 per game, which ranks seventh in the Southland. He has posted seven 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 16 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 25 games in 2009-10, Lumberjack foes are hitting 35.1 percent from behind the arc. That figure stands 225th out of 334 Division I teams in the country, as ranked by the NCAA through games of Feb. 21.
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 the 2009-10 season with four first-time opponents on the schedule -- Cal State Fullerton, Longwood, Howard and Binghamton. 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.
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 three times this year, hitting 20 against Cal State Fullerton and 22 each at Arkansas and against Nicholls. 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 3-5 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.
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 284 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 113-28 (.801) record in the William R. Johnson Coliseum. SFA is 309-119 (.722) all-time in the Coliseum. SFA has a 12-1 record in home games this season, marking the fifth straight campaign and the seventh time in eight years for the Lumberjacks to post double-digit wins at home.
SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
FOR THE RECORD: Texas State opened the season by losing five of its first six games. The Bobcats then won four straight, finishing with their 64-60 win at UT Arlington in the Southland Conference opener. They've since won back-to-back games just once and have dropped four of their last six contests. Texas State is coming off a 66-63 defeat at Nicholls. The Bobcats are 10-2 in home games this season. They average nearly 10 points per game more at home than in contests played away from Strahan Coliseum.
LAST GAME: Texas State overcame a 10-point deficit in the final 4:35 to take a 63-60 lead with 26 seconds left at Nicholls. But the Colonels hit two 3-pointers in the final half-minute to take a 66-63 win. The Bobcats held Nicholls' leading scorer Anatoly Bose to 12 points, but Texas State shot just 36 percent and was only 3-for-15 from 3-point range. Texas State went 32-for-45 at the foul stripe, led by J.B. Conley's 11-of-12 performance. Conley finished with a game-high 20 points. Tony Bishop went 10-for-11 at the stripe and added 18 points. Nicholls doubled up the Bobcats' production in the paint, outscoring them, 28-14.
KEY NUMBERS: The Bobcats play some of the fastest basketball in the country. Texas State averages 77.3 possessions per 40 minutes, which ranks third nationally and leads the Southland Conference. The Bobcats rank second in the Southland in scoring offense with 75.8 points per game, but they give up 77.3 points per contest, which stands 11th in the 12-team conference. Texas State has attempted more shots (1,564) than any other team in the league, but its .412 field goal percentage ranks 12th in the conference. The Bobcats lead the Southland with 9.6 steals per contest, and their 14.7 offensive boards per game are tops in the conference.
LEADERS: Junior forward Cameron Johnson leads the Bobcats and ranks 10th in the Southland with 13.6 points per game, but he is the only Texas State player averaging double figures. Johnson is sixth in the conference in rebounding with 7.7 boards per contest and ranks eighth in the league with 1.6 steals per game. Junior guard Ryan White's 3.7 assists per game are seventh in the conference, and senior forward John Rybak ranks eighth in the league with 1.8 3-pointers per contest.
-- SFA --
