Stephen F. Austin
North Dakota State
North and South Collide in WRJ Coliseum Tuesday Night when SFA Tangles with NDSU
11/27/2017 5:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball
'Jacks battle Bison for second time in program history
Stephen F. Austin (5-1) vs. North Dakota State (5-2)
Tuesday, Nov. 28 | 7:30 p.m. | William R. Johnson Coliseum (7,203) | Nacogdoches, Texas
Live Stats | Watch (ESPN3/ESPN app) | Listen (Q107.7/TuneIn app) | SFA Game Notes | NDSU Game Notes
OPENING TIPS
• A north vs. south storyline takes shape in William R. Johnson Coliseum Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. when SFA plays host to North Dakota State. The second installment of the Lumberjacks/Bison series will be streamed nationwide on ESPN3 and the ESPN app with Rob Meyers' rich baritone narrating the action. Q107.7 FM in Nacogdoches will carry the Southland/Summit League clash over the airwaves locally while the TuneIn app allows all to listen to Meyers' call nationwide.
• Previously, the 'Jacks and Bison engaged in an unforgettable showdown in America's heartland during the 2008-09 campaign. SFA emerged with a thrilling 112-111 triple-overtime victory over North Dakota State on Dec. 12, 2008, in Des Moines, Iowa, and the win offset an incredible 60-point effort by the Bison's Ben Woodside.
• One of the game's major storylines will undoubtedly be how the 'Jacks' smothering defense handles a North Dakota State that is averse to turning the ball over. SFA heads into the Tuesday night tilt leading the nation in steals per game (14.2), total steals (85) and turnovers forced per game (25), while the Bison's 54 total turnovers are the 24th-fewest in all of NCAA Division I men's basketball. In all, SFA receives 34.9-percent of its offense (185 of 529 points) off of opponent turnovers.
• Just about 16 years have passed since the 'Jacks suffered a loss against a current foe from the Summit League. Oral Roberts, once a member of the Southland Conference, was the last foe from the eight-team league to defeat SFA and that happened on Dec. 29, 2001, when the Golden Eagles grabbed a 78-57 win over SFA in Tulsa, Okla.
• Since starting the 2017-18 campaign with four straight games of 20 or more turnovers, the 'Jacks have taken much better care of the ball in their last two games. SFA committed only 12 turnovers at Mississippi State and 15 against Florida A&M Sunday afternoon to up its league-leading turnover margin to +6.7 - the eighth-best in the nation.
• Keeping opponent off of the glass has been a big key to SFA's success. The 'Jacks lead the Southland and rank 25th nationally with a rebounding margin of +9.8
• Through North Dakota State's first five game of 2017-18, senior Paul Miller and sophomore Tyson Ward have jumped to the front of the Bison's offensive attack. Miller, a Preseason All-Summit League First Team choice, and Ward lead North Dakota State in scoring at 13.8 points per game. Ward is putting in shots at a shooting clip of 51.9-percent, making him one of five Bison who are shooting above .500 this season.
• Ball security is at the top of North Dakota State's checklist as the Bison are one of the least turnover prone teams in all of NCAA Division I men's basketball. The Bison's 57 total throwaways are the 24th fewest in the nation while their 11.4 turnovers per game ranks 57th in the land. Both of those figures are tops in the Summit League.
• Rebounding is also a forte of both Miller and Ward as the pair rank one-two on the team in that category. Ward's rebounding average of 6.6 per game is bettered only by Miller who is pulling down boards at a rate of 6.8 per night.
• In addition to a strong starting five, the Bison also boast one of the nation's best benches. North Dakota State reserves are shooting a combined 53-percent from the field so far this season and helping that number rise are Cameron Hunter (12.4 points per game) and Deng Geu (8.8 points per game) who are shooting 57.6-percent and 65.5-percent respectively.
• In the only other meeting between North Dakota State and SFA, then-senior Ben Woodside pumped in an incredible 60 points in the Bison's 112-111 triple-overtime setback to the 'Jacks in Des Moines, Iowa. Woodside connected on 30 of his 35 tries from the free throw line and would go on to be named the 2009 Summit League Player of the Year.
• North Dakota State's matchup with the 'Jacks will be the Bison's first tilt against a team from the Lone Star State since 2015. North Dakota State emerged as a 68-50 winner over UT Rio Grande Valley in the Global Sports Hoops Showcase in Logan, Utah, on Dec. 22, 2015.
LAST TIME OUT
• By using a 31-7 run that spanned the first and second halves, the Stephen F. Austin men's basketball team turned an 11-point deficit into a 13-point advantage as the 'Jacks overcame a slow start to take down Florida A&M inside William R. Johnson Coliseum Sunday afternoon.
• Ivan Canete, who put in 14 points and was one of three SFA players to produce a game-best six rebounds, helped spark the 'Jacks' offense by drilling te second of his two threes and adding a layup early in the second half. After shooting only 3-of-18 (16.7-percent) through his first three games of the season, Canete has busted out of his funk and has averaged 10.3 points per game on the strength of .608/.636/.857 shooting.
• TJ Holyfield took over as the 'Jacks' leading scorer for the 2017-18 campaign by pumping in a team-high 22 points - his second effort of 20 or more points of the season. The junior out of Albuquerque, N.M., established new career highs in field goals made (10) and field goals attempted (14) in the win while adding a pair of blocked shots on defense.
• Currently, Holyfield has 97 blocked shots to his credit - the third-highest total in the history of the program. With three more rejections, he will join Matt Kingsley (100) and Taylor Smith (132) as the only two SFA players in the history of the program with 100 or more blocked shots.
• Sophomore Kevon Harris bounced back from his lone single-digit scoring effort of the 2017-18 campaign thus far by adding 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field. Harris also connected on five of his six tries from the free throw line which helped the Ellenwood, Ga., product maintain his status as the highest volume free throw shooter in the Southland Conference. Harris leads the league in free throws attempted (44) and free throws made (34) this season and ranks 47th and 44th nationally in those categories.
• Just six games into his sophomore campaign, Aaron Augustin may have put forth his best single-game effort yet after serving as the 'Jacks' reserve floor general as a freshman in 2016-17. The Suwanee, Ga., native led the team in both assists (six) and steals (five) while adding seven points and four rebounds. For the season, Augustin has amassed 19 steals which leads the Southland Conference and ranks fifth nationally.
• Another lopsided SFA victory meant that the 'Jacks' already impressive scoring margin though the 2017-18 took another spike. SFA now owns a league-leading scoring margin of +20.7 against their 2017-18 adversaries which also stands as the 18th-highest in all of NCAA Division I men's basketball.
• For the fourth time in its first six games of the season, the 'Jacks connected on over 50-percent of their field goal tries in Sunday's win. SFA drilled 53.7-percent of its attempts to help the team up its 2017-18 field goal percentage to 50.9-percent which ranks second in the Southland Conference and 29th among all NCAA Division I men's basketball teams.
• Usually a big part of its wins so far in 2017-18, the 'Jacks' bench netted just 15 points against the Rattlers - a season low. It marked the first time that SFA posted under 20 bench points this season but despite that the 'Jacks' bench still finished +10 when stacked up against the Rattlers' reserves. In all, 196 of SFA's 529 points - or 37-percent - this season have come from its reserve unit.
COMING UP NEXT
• Keen on exacting revenge after last season's slim setback to Louisiana-Monroe, the 'Jacks welcome the Warhawks to William R. Johnson Coliseum for the first time since 2010 for a 3:30 p.m. showdown on Saturday afternoon.
-SFA-
