GAME NOTES: at Central Arkansas
3/2/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 2, 2010
CONWAY, Ark. -
Complete Release in PDF Format 
VITALS
Stephen F. Austin at Central Arkansas
Wednesday, March 3, 2010 • 7:00 p.m. (CST)
Farris Center (5,500) • Conway, Ark.
Radio: KTBQ 107.7-FM • TV: None • Online: None
Lumberjacks
Record: 20-7 (10-4)
Last 5/Streak: 4-1/W2
Coach: Danny Kaspar
Career: 397-163
At SFA: 178-111
SID: Brian Ross
E-mail: rossbrian@sfasu.edu
Web: sfajacks.com
Bears
Record: 8-20 (2-12)
Last 5/Streak: 1-4/L4
Coach: Rand Chappell
Career: 301-225
At UCA: 103-103
SID: Steve East
E-mail: seast@uca.edu
Web: ucasports.com
GAME INFORMATION
EAST-BOUND AND UP: The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack basketball team goes into its final game against a Southland Conference East Division foe with a two-game lead in the division standings and a firm hold on the conference's No. 2 overall slot. The 'Jacks will take on Central Arkansas Wednesday with the chance to lock up the second seed in the Southland Tournament. SFA comes into the game at 20-7 on the year and 10-4 in league play, needing only one win in its last two games to secure the No. 2 seed. Central Arkansas is 8-20 overall with a 2-12 record against league competition.
LAST GAME: SFA secured its third straight 20-win season Saturday with a 64-43 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Lumberjacks held A&M-Corpus to its lowest point total in a league game since joining the Southland four seasons ago. The game was decided in the first 10 minutes of the second half, when the Islanders scored just two points, allowing SFA to build a 20-point lead by the 6:50 mark. Jereal Scott scored 16 points to lead the 'Jacks. Eddie Williams and Denzel Barnes scored 11 points apiece, and Barnes, playing for the injured Eric Bell, posted career-highs in assists (6) and steals (5). Justin Reynolds scored 21 points, but was the only Islander to break double digits.
THE BEARS: Since putting together a four-game, non-conference win streak that included victories against Cal State Fullerton and Southern in the Etech Lumberjack Classic, Central Arkansas has struggled to find consistency. The Bears are just 3-15 since that win streak and have lost nine of their last 10, including four straight.
vs. CENTRAL ARKANSAS: SFA is 5-0, all-time, against Central Arkansas. The series began in 2006-07, the Bears' first year in the Southland Conference. The Lumberjacks are 2-0 in road games against UCA. The closest game in the series, to date, was the first meeting, a 60-54 SFA win in Conway in 2007. No other meeting has been decided by fewer than 14 points.
COVERAGE: Wednesday's game will be broadcast live on KTBQ 107.7-FM. Rob Meyers has the call. Live stats will be provided on the Central Arkansas Web site.
UP NEXT: SFA will wrap up the season with a home game against UTSA on March 3. The contest is scheduled to start at 6 p.m.
NEWS AND NOTES
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 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 (13.7 ppg) and Jereal Scott (12.9 ppg). When both players break double figures in scoring, the Lumberjacks are 13-3. SFA's only losses when both Williams and Scott score more than 10 points came against Texas Tech, Sam Houston State and Southeastern Louisiana.
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 worse than 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 Northwestern State, five straight against Central Arkansas, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and UTSA, 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.
MILESTONE APPROACHING: Head coach Danny Kaspar is closing in on his 400th career win. With 397 to this point, Kaspar could reach the 400-win plateau by the end of the season, as SFA has two games left on the schedule and the potential for three games in the Southland Conference Tournament. Kaspar has a five-game win streak in the series history against both remaining opponents and has won in the first round of the Southland Tournament in three of the last four years.
SITTIN' ON 20: With its victory against A&M-Corpus, 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 13-1 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 10-0 this season when scoring at least 70 points. But the `Jacks are just 10-7 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. SFA is 3-3 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.
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 14 conference games, Lumberjack foes have connected on just 29.0 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.
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 43-2 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 7-0 in home league games. In all, SFA is 64-24 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 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 90 total games with 49 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 26 blocks for the season, an average of 1.0 per game, which ranks seventh in the Southland. He has posted nine 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 17 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 27 games in 2009-10, Lumberjack foes are hitting 34.4 percent from behind the arc. That figure stands 188th out of 347 Division I teams in the country, as ranked by the NCAA through games of Feb. 28.
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 20 points each at Sam Houston State and Texas State, Williams has broken the 20-point barrier five 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 and their win over Texas State. SFA is now 4-6 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-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 114-28 (.803) record in the William R. Johnson Coliseum. SFA is 310-119 (.723) all-time in the Coliseum. SFA has a 13-1 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 BEARS
FOR THE RECORD: Central Arkansas brings an 8-20 record into Wednesday's game. The Bears are last in the Southland Conference with a 2-12 mark. Since its 64-49 loss at SFA on Jan. 13, UCA is 2-10 with wins against Nicholls and UTSA. The Bears have lost four straight and nine of their last 10. UCA is 5-8 at home with a 2-5 home record against conference teams.
LAST GAME: Southeastern Louisiana outscored Central Arkansas, 12-7, in overtime to take a 65-60 win in a game that saw neither team break 40 percent shooting from the floor. Southeastern took advantage of 19 Bears turnovers, outscoring UCA, 25-4, in points off turnovers. The Lions also finished with a 14-2 edge in fast-break points and a 22-14 advantage in the paint. Central Arkansas' Mitch Rueter went 3-for-6 from 3-point range to lead all players with 18 points. Jared Rehmel added 12 points. Brandon Fortenberry came off the bench to lead Southeastern with 17 points. The Lions attempted 31 free throws in the game but connected on just 18.
KEY NUMBERS: Central Arkansas' 63.3 points per game rank last in the Southland Conference, and the Bears stand 11th in the 12-team league in shooting, both overall from the field (.412) and from 3-point range (.301). For the season, UCA has a plus-0.1 turnover margin, but the Bears are last in the Southland in league games, at minut-1.9. UCA's 0.7 assist-to-turnover ration for the year is last in the league.
LEADERS: The Bears have three players scoring in double figures. Mitch Rueter leads the team with 12.9 points per game. Tadre Sheppard averages 11.5 points and ranks seventh in the Southland with 7.3 rebounds per contest. Chris Poellnitz's 10.7 points per game rank third on the team. Sheppard is third in the Southland in field goal percentage, shooting 55.8 percent from the field, and his 1.7 blocked shots per game rank third in the league. Jared Rehmel leads the Bears and ranks fourth in the Southland, averaging 34.4 minutes per game.
-- SFA --
