Lumberjacks To Close Road Schedule
2/26/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 26, 2014
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin men's basketball team looks to tie No. 2 Wichita State for the nation’s longest active road win streak with games at New Orleans and Southeastern Louisiana to close their road schedule.
First-year head coach Brad Underwood and the Lumberjacks (25-2, 14-0 SLC) will head to New Orleans for a 7:45 meeting with UNO in the first meeting between the two schools on the hardwood on Thursday, Feb. 27, followed by a Saturday (Mar. 1) afternoon game at SELU.
With a share of the nation’s longest home win streak at 31-straight victories, the ‘Jacks have continued to garner national attention, moving up to the No. 2 spot in CollegeInsider.com’s Mid-Major Top 25 poll, the highest ranking in program history. SFA is sixth in the Mid-Major Madness Power 15, for a second-straight week.
For a sixth-straight week SFA is receiving at least one vote in the USA Today Coaches Poll, now with five votes. After their first appearance of the season in Week 15, the ‘Jacks also continue to receive votes in the Associated Press’ Top 25, now with 11. SFA received votes in both polls last season and in the 2007-08 year.
The ‘Jacks, who haven’t lost since Nov. 23, have continued to rank with elite company in several other categories, including conference play. SFA’s 14-0 mark is in the same conversation with No. 1 Florida (14-0), No. 2 Wichita St. (16-0) and No. 8/10 Saint Louis (12-0), as the only remaining school without a loss in league play.
SFA’s 22-straight overall wins rank second in the nation, behind Wichita St. (29), continuing to build on the second-longest all-time streak for the ‘Jacks and most since the 1971-72 season (16). The program's all-time mark is 29-straight, set during the 1969-70 campaign as a member of the Lone Star Conference. The 22 consecutive wins are also the most-ever for a Southland Conference school.
Underwood continues to extend his first-year success with 25 wins, already the program's all-time winningest head coach in their first season at SFA. With the 74-58 victory at Northwestern State back on Jan. 16, Underwood passed Glen Rose (1948) and John O. Stephens (1952), who both recorded 15 wins back in their respective first seasons.
One of 351 NCAA Division I men's basketball programs in the country, the ‘Jacks currently rank in the top 10 in both win percentage (T2nd-92.6) and turnover margin (6th-5.5). SFA also ranks 12th in scoring margin (12.7), 14th in assists per game (16.1), and 21st in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.42). Defensively, the ‘Jacks rank 22nd in scoring defense (62.3) and are 76th in scoring offense (75.0).
Other statistics of note, SFA ranks 37th in steals per game (7.7) and tied for 54th in rebounding margin (4.0).
Fans can follow the ‘Jacks on the road on live stats and video streaming available on unoprivateers.com and lionsports.net. For more updated on SFA, be sure to follow the official twitter account of the men’s basketball team, @SFA_MBB.
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