Underwood Announces 2014-15 Basketball Schedule
9/8/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Full 2014-15 Schedule
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Stephen F. Austin head men's basketball coach Brad Underwood announced the release of the 2014-15 schedule for the back-to-back defending Southland Conference champion Lumberjacks on Monday morning. The 31-game slate, including 16 contests inside William R. Johnson Coliseum, features four TV games for SFA in non-conference play.
"I think this will be the most challenging schedule maybe in the history of SFA, with three NCAA Tournament teams," Underwood said. "I'm excited about this schedule, especially with having 16 home games. I look forward to the challenges that this schedule will present us. The quality of opponent coming to play us this season in Nacogdoches makes for a great environment and schedule for our season ticket holders, fans and our students, and it is something I hope they are excited for as well."
The `Jacks will play three opponents who advanced to last year's NCAA Tournament in first round participant Xavier (Nov. 21), third round participant Memphis (Dec. 2) and Sweet 16 participant Baylor (Nov. 24), playing all three on the road and on national television.
SFA will play its season opener with Mississippi College on Friday, Nov. 14, before participating in three consecutive TV games. The `Jacks will take part in ESPN's 24-hour College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon on Tuesday, Nov. 18, hosting Northern Iowa in an 8 a.m. tip on ESPN2. The tip-off game will be the first of two televised games for the `Jacks that week, playing their second in their road opener at Xavier on Friday, Nov. 21, on the Fox Sports network. The meeting with UNI will be the third-ever between the two programs, with SFA trailing the Panthers 2-0, while the trip to XU marks the first clash on the hardwood.
"I'm really excited about having ESPN's 24 hours of college basketball here in Nacogdoches," Underwood said. "We will get to put the nation's longest home court win streak on display, along with our great fans that have been a factor in helping us extend it to this point. To go from UNI to Xavier for another national televised game in the same week will be a great experience for our players."
From Xavier, SFA returns to the state of Texas for one game at Baylor. The `Jacks and Bears will meet for the 15th time in series history and first since the 2003-04 season (11/25/03), with Baylor holding a 8-6 edge, on Monday, Nov. 24, on Fox Sports Southwest.
SFA will close out the month of November in Las Vegas, participating in the 2014 Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational in Orleans Arena from November 27-28. The `Jacks will face Prairie View A&M on Thursday, Nov. 27, at 8 p.m. The other semifinal game in SFA's bracket field has Austin Peay tilting with Brown at 1 p.m. The following day, the two winners will meet in the championship game at 4 p.m. with the consolation game to be played prior at 1:30 p.m.
"Obviously very privileged to be a part the Las Vegas Invitational," Underwood said. "It is a great event that is very well run from top to bottom, and there are some great teams competing in it this season."
The `Jacks will open the month of December with their final non-conference game slated for TV, heading to Memphis. SFA and the Tigers will meet for the first time in program history on Tuesday, Dec. 2, on ESPN News.
After five games on the road, the `Jacks return to Nacogdoches on Friday, Dec. 5, kicking on a five-game homestand. SFA will host Long Beach State in a return trip from the ESPN Bracketbusters from the 2012-13 campaign, before facing Ouachita Baptist (Dec. 7), North Texas (Dec. 14) and Texas State (Dec. 17). TXST's visit to WRJ Coliseum, marks the return of former head coach Danny Kaspar. Kaspar, in his second season with the Bobcats, was head coach of the `Jacks for 13 seasons before departing for TXST on April 4, 2013.
The `Jacks will close out their non-conference schedule and the 2014 calendar year at Cal-State Northridge on Monday, Dec. 29. The two teams met for just the second time in program history last season, with SFA prevailing 74-67 at home.
"With big road games at Xavier, Baylor, Memphis and Cal-State Northridge, and to be in those kind of environments, it will certainly help us prepare for any road test that we'll face in conference play," Underwood said. "We definitely have a non-conference schedule that will prepare us well for what should be an outstanding year of Southland Conference basketball. The league is loaded with great individual talent and teams and we will need to be good every night to be successful."
The Southland adopted a new conference schedule entering the 2014-15 season, with the `Jacks playing conference games on Mondays and Saturdays, given one Tuesday and one Thursday in SLC play.
The `Jacks open up their run at a third consecutive conference title at McNeese State on Saturday, Jan. 3. SFA also faces Central Arkansas (Jan. 13), Abilene Christian (Jan. 17), Sam Houston State (Jan. 24) and Lamar (Jan. 26) on the road, hosting New Orleans (Jan. 19) and Texas A&M - Corpus Christi (Jan. 31) in the month of January.
The `Jacks open the month of February with Houston Baptist on Saturday, Feb. 7, before playing three consecutive road games at Northwestern State (Feb. 9), TAMUCC (Feb. 14) and Incarnate Word (Feb. 16).
SFA closes its regular season with five of its last six games at home. The `Jacks, after hosting Nicholls (Feb. 21) and LU (Feb. 23), playing their road finale at HBU (Feb. 28), before wrapping up SLC play with UIW (Mar. 2), NWST (Mar. 5) and SHSU (Mar. 7) inside WRJ Coliseum.
The 2015 SLC Basketball Tournament will once again be held at Leonard E. Merrell Center from March 11-14. The top eight teams will qualify for the league tournament, with the champion earning the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Fans can purchase tickets for SFA home games by calling 936-468-5225 or online here.
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