GAME NOTES: vs. Sam Houston State
3/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 12, 2010
KATY, Texas -
Complete release in PDF format 
VITALS
Stephen F. Austin vs. Sam Houston
Saturday, March 13, 2010 • 3:05 p.m. (CST)
Merrell Center (5,600) • Katy, Texas
Radio: KTBQ 107.7-FM • TV: ESPN2 • Online: ESPN 360
Lumberjacks
Record: 23-8
Last 5/Streak: 4-1/W2
Coach: Danny Kaspar
Career: 400-164
At SFA: 181-112
SID: Brian Ross
E-mail: rossbrian@sfasu.edu
Web: sfajacks.com
Bearkats
Record: 24-7
Last 5/Streak: 4-1/W2
Coach: Bob Marlin
Career: 347-165
At SHSU: 224-130
SID: Paul Ridings
E-mail: ridings@shsu.edu
Web: gobearkats.com
GAME INFORMATION
FROM START TO FINISH: Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston State tipped off the 2010 Southland Conference schedule with a showdown in Huntsville on Jan. 9. Saturday, the two teams will meet again in the finals of the State Farm Southland Conference Basketball Tournament with a berth in the NCAA Championships on the line. SFA, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, comes into the game with a 23-8 record. No. 1 Sam Houston State, the league's regular-season champion, is 24-7 on the year.
LAST GAME: Walt Harris scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half and hit three free throws with under 33 seconds to play to ice a 60-53 semifinals win over A&M-Corpus Christi Thursday. Harris was one of four Lumberjacks to reach double digits, as Jordan Glynn and Jereal Scott each scored 11 points, and Eddie Williams posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Denzel Barnes scored six points and dished out six assists. Justin Reynolds scored 17 points to lead A&M-Corpus Christi.
THE BEARKATS: Sam Houston State went 14-2 in conference play to win the Southland regular-season crown. The Bearkats opened league action with 11 straight wins before falling at UTSA. Sam Houston then dropped the season finale at Texas State. Both losses were in overtime. The Bearkats earned three spots on the First- and Second-Team All-Southland squads, and Bob Marlin was named the league's 2010 Coach of the Year.
vs. SAM HOUSTON STATE: SFA is 92-89, all-time, in the series with the Bearkats. The Bearkats hold a 7-3 advantage in the last 10 meetings and are 3-2 against the 'Jacks in the last five clashes. SFA is 6-13 against Sam Houston in 10 seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar. Saturday's meeting will be the first on a neutral floor in that time span but it marks the third time for the teams to meet in the Southland Tournament during Kaspar's tenure. SFA is 1-2 against the 'Kats in tournament play.
COVERAGE: Saturday's game will be televised live on ESPN2. The game will also be broadcast on KTBQ 107.7 FM. Rob Meyers has the call.
UP NEXT: The winner of Saturday's game will earn the Southland Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. Tournament seeding will be announced during the selection show, which airs Sunday, starting at 5 p.m.
NEWS AND NOTES
TITLE GAME TRENDS: Stephen F. Austin is making its fourth appearance in the Southland Tournament title game since 2003. Only Northwestern State has as many championship game appearances in that time span. In addition, the 'Jacks and Demons are the only teams to make consecutive showings in the championship game during the last eight seasons. SFA advanced to the title game in 2003 and 2004. Northwestern State reached four consecutive championship games from 2005 to 2008.
DEJA VU: SFA has now beaten Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the semifinals of the Southland Tournament in two straight years. In fact, the Lumberjacks are the only team to have defeated the Islanders in league tournament play. In three trips to the Southland Tournament, A&M-Corpus Christi is now 5-2.
DIVIDE AND CONQUER: Orren Tims and Eddie Williams split up the scoring load in SFA's first-round win over UT Arlington. Tims scored 15 points in the first half while Williams had just three by halftime. In the second period, Tims added just two more points, but Williams poured in 19, including four 3-pointers. The single-half figures for both players are season-highs, and Tims tied a career-best with 17 total points. Williams finished with 22 for his sixth career 20-point game.
LIGHTS-OUT: SFA shot 58.3 percent in its first-round win against UT Arlington. That's the Lumberjacks' third-best shooting percentage of the year and their best performance in the Merrell Center since the Southland Tournament came to Katy in 2008.
MILESTONE WIN: With the Lumberjacks' 60-53 win over A&M-Corpus Christi in the Southland Tournament semifinals, head coach Danny Kaspar earned his 400th career win.
BELOW-BOARD: SFA outrebounded UT Arlington, 42-17, in the first round of the Southland Tournament. The Mavericks' 17 boards are a season-low for SFA opponents, and the Lumberjacks' 25-rebound margin is the highest they've recorded this season. That performance marks the third time this season an SFA foe has been held to fewer than 20 rebounds. Southeastern Louisiana and Nicholls each had a 19-board game against SFA earlier this season.
HOME-WRECKERS: SFA suffered two home losses by a combined total of four points this season, marking just the first time since the 2006-07 season for the Lumberjacks to drop more than one home game in a single campaign. The Lumberjacks lost a 63-61 decision to Texas Tech and a 65-63 verdict against UTSA. The Texas Tech loss snapped a 15-game homecourt winning streak and was SFA's first home, non-conference loss since the 2006-07 season. The 'Jacks are now 30-2 in their last 32 home, non-conference match-ups and 53-4 overall in such games during Danny Kaspar's 10-year tenure. The loss against UTSA marked the first home Southland defeat for SFA since losing to UT Arlington in the second-to-last home game of the 2007-08 season. Over their previous two Southland Conference championship seasons, SFA went 15-1 at home, including a perfect 8-0 record last year. The 'Jacks are 13-2 at home this season and went 7-1 in home conference games. In all, SFA is 64-25 in Southland home games under Kaspar.
GOT FOUR, NEEDED MORE: Led by Jereal Scott's 21 points, four Lumberjacks reached double figures in scoring against UTSA. This marks the first time in nearly five years for SFA to fail to win a game in which at least four players broke the 10-point barrier. The last time the Lumberjacks lost such a game was a 78-72 defeat at Sam Houston State in the semifinals of the 2005-06 Southland Tournament. The 'Jacks are now 7-1 in such contests this season and are 34-2 over the last five seasons when at least four players break double figures.
STRAIGHT SHOOTING: SFA shot 47.6 percent (20-of-42) in its loss at Nicholls and shot 50.9 percent (27-for-53) in the loss to UTSA in the regular-season finale. Those performances mark the only times 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 44-3 in such games over the last three seasons.
BEARLY SCORING: SFA held Central Arkansas to just 49 points in both their meetings this season. In six games against the Bears, UCA has broken 50 points just twice -- a 60-54 Lumberjack win in the initial meeting in 2006-07 and a 72-55 SFA victory in Conway last season.
REACHING NEW LOWS: The 43 points A&M-Corpus Christi scored against SFA are the fewest the Islanders have ever posted in a Southland game since joining the league four years ago. Including A&M-Corpus, the Lumberjacks have held six Southland opponents to their lowest point totals of the season in league play. SFA held McNeese State and Northwestern State to their two lowest point totals of the Southland season, and the 49 points Central Arkansas scored in both its games against SFA are the second-fewest put up by the Bears in conference play.
PARTY OF FIVE: Five Lumberjacks reached double figures in scoring against Texas State. That marks the third time this season for SFA to put a quintet into double digits. The 'Jacks also put five players in double figures against Southern and East Central.
TOP GUNS: SFA's leading scorers this season are Eddie Williams (13.6 ppg) and Jereal Scott (12.8 ppg). When both players break double figures in scoring, the Lumberjacks are 15-4. SFA's only losses when both Williams and Scott score more than 10 points came against Texas Tech, Sam Houston State, Southeastern Louisiana and UTSA.
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. Those are the only two games this season in which SFA has shot worse than 35 percent.
SOUTHLAND STREAKS: There are four 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 Northwestern State, six straight against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Central Arkansas, and has recorded 11 consecutive victories against Texas State. The 'Jacks have not lost to Texas State since the 2002-03 season and are 15-2 overall against the Bobcats in Danny Kaspar's tenure.
SITTIN' ON 20: With its victory against A&M-Corpus in the regular season, SFA broke 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 15-2 this season when shooting 45 percent or better, including a 9-1 record 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 11-0 this season when scoring at least 70 points. But the `Jacks are just 12-8 when scoring 69 points or fewer and are 1-4 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. SFA is 4-3 this season 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. In SFA's 54-49 win at Central Arkansas this season, Harris hit two free throws with 4.5 seconds left to give SFA a three-point lead, all but clinching the win.
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. In Southland Conference games, Lumberjack foes connected on just 30.1 percent of their 3-point attempts, which ranks third 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.
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.
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 Division I tenure. 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 10 double-doubles and 12 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 94 total games with 53 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 28 blocks for the season, an average of 1.0 per game, which ranks seventh in the Southland. He has posted 10 multi-block games this season and ranks ninth on the SFA single-season blocks list in the Division I era.
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 20 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 the end of the 2009-10 season, Lumberjack foes are hitting 34.5 percent from behind the arc. That figure stands 191st out of 347 Division I teams in the country.
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.
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 and their win over Texas State. SFA is now 4-7 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 2-6 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 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 114-29 (.797) record in the William R. Johnson Coliseum. SFA is 310-120 (.721) all-time in the Coliseum. SFA finished with a 13-2 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.
-- SFA --
