Stephen F. Austin
Louisiana-Monroe
SFA Takes Aim at Louisiana-Monroe Saturday Afternoon in William R. Johnson Coliseum
12/1/2017 3:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball
'Jacks and Warhawks meet for the 52nd time as SFA shoots for seventh win in 2017-18
Stephen F. Austin (6-1) vs. Louisiana-Monroe (3-3)
Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017 | 3:30 p.m. | William R. Johnson Coliseum (7,203) | Nacogdoches, Texas
Live Stats | Watch (ESPN3/ESPN app) | Listen (Q107.7/TuneIn app) | SFA Game Notes | ULM Game Notes
OPENING TIPS
• Hoping to continue its best start since the 2012-13 campaign, the Stephen F. Austin men's basketball team begins its seven-game slate of December contests by hunkering down in William R. Johnson Coliseum Saturday afternoon for a 3:30 p.m. matchup against Sun Belt adversary Louisiana-Monroe. The first clash between the 'Jacks and Warhawks on SFA's home floor sine 2010 will be carried live on ESPN3 and the ESPN app with Rob Meyers providing play-by-play and analysis.
• Meyers' call of the game will also be carried on Q107.7 FM in Nacogdoches and can also be heard around around the globe via the TuneIn app.
• Saturday's game will be the 'Jacks' latest against an opponent from the Sun Belt Conference. All-time, SFA has gone 156-138 against foes from that 12-team league which is good for a winning percentage of .531. The 'Jacks have taken on eight of the 12 current teams in the Sun Belt including Appalachian State, Georgia State, Little Rock, Louisiana, Louisiana-Monroe, Texas State, South Alabama and UT-Arlington.
• Arguably the best defense in all of NCAA Division I men's basketball belongs to the 'Jacks. SFA leads the nation in total steals (98), steals per game (14) and turnovers forced per game (25.43) while ranking third nationally with a turnover margin of +7.4. The only two teams that possess a better turnover margin than the 'Jacks this season are West Virginia (10.8) and Georgia State (7.6).
• With the month of November in the books, the 'Jacks set two new program records for November games. SFA's seven games in the month were the most in the history of the program as were its six November wins.
• In addition to its array of nation-leading defensive numbers, SFA also ranks among the top 50 NCAA Division I men's basketball teams in the land in a number of other statistical categories. The 'Jacks rank 36th in free throws made (132), 45th in rebounding margin (+8.0) and 25th in scoring margin (+18.3). All of those marks are tops among all Southland Conference teams.
• The 'Jacks received a major boost to their lineup when senior Ty Charles stepped onto the court in SFA's most recent game against North Dakota State. The Kennedale, Texas, product hadn't played since March 15 of last season and is 19 wins away from reaching 100 wins in his career.
SCOUTING LOUISIANA-MONROE | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• Four Louisiana-Monroe players are averaging at least 10 points per game through the Warhawks' first six contests of the 2017-18 campaign. Leading the way in that category is Preseason All-Sun Belt Third Team choice Travis Munnings (15.3 ppg) who is shooting .545/.500/.643. Sam McDaniel (15 ppg), Marvin Jean-Pierre (14.5 ppg) and Jordan Harris (10.2 ppg) also average double figures.
• The three-pointer is one of the Warhawks' primary weapons and so far in 2017-18 they are connecting on them at a clip of 40.3-percent. That percentage leads the Sun Belt and ranks 45th nationally and on average Louisiana-Monroe drills 10.3 three-pointers per game - the 33rd-most among all NCAA Division I clubs this season.
• Munnings also leads the Warhawks in rebounding, pulling down 6.8 boards per game. As a squad, Louisiana-Monroe does possess a rebounding margin of +2.8 over its foes, but they rank last in the Sun Belt with 212 total rebounds and 10th in terms of rebounds per game (35.33).
• Now in his eighth season in charge of Louisiana-Monroe, head coach Keith Richard has experienced a good deal of success against Southland Conference adversaries in his tenure. Richard is 8-6 against foes from the Southland with those losses coming to Nicholls (once), Northwestern State (three times), Southeastern Louisian (once) and Stephen F. Austin (once).
• Louisiana-Monroe has gotten the job done in 2017-18 without committing copious fouls, too. The Warhawks lead the 12-team Sun Belt and rank 60th nationally with just 107 fouls committed through six games - an average of 17.8 infractions per tilt.
• The Warhawks have been hard-pressed to win road games as of late. Louisiana-Monroe has gone just 2-14 (.125) on the road since the start of the 2016-17 campaign with their most recent road triumph coming on Feb. 25, 2017, by a 75-64 tally at Appalachian State.
LAST TIME OUT
• By taking a normally careful North Dakota State team well out of its comfort zone, the 'Jacks forced 28 turnovers from the Bison and held off the squad's late surge to walk away with a 54-50 triumph over their Summit League foes Tuesday night inside William R. Johnson Coliseum.
• The win was SFA's first without reaching the 60-point barrier since the 'Jacks posted a 59-48 triumph over North Texas inside William R. Johnson Coliseum on Dec. 14, 2014. Since that win over the Mean Green, SFA lost six-straight games in which it hadn't reached the 60-point mark.
• Senior Leon Gilmore III registered his first double-double of the 2017-18 campaign by netting 10 points and ripping down a game-high 10 rebounds. He's the second SFA player this season to post a double-double, joining Kevon Harris who has two to his credit thus far.
• SFA locked down the win despite registering season-lows in a number of statistical categories including total points, first-half points, second-half points, field goal percentage, field goals made, field goal attempts, three-point field goals made, free throw percentage and assists.
• Once again, Shannon Bogues bounded off of the 'Jacks' bench and delivered a fine performance. The junior posted a game-high 15 points which represented his fifth double-digit scoring effort through six games in 2017-18 while setting new career-bests in free throws made (five) and free throws attempted (six). His six rebounds tied his season-high for the season, too.
• The 'Jacks failed to win the rebounding battle for the second time this season, finishing at a 37-34 disadvantage in that category against the Bison. It mattered not, however, as SFA used a 23-3 advantage in bench scoring and an 18-7 edge in points off turnovers to win the day.
• SFA committed a season-low 19 personal fouls in the win and limited the Bison to just six free throw makes during the tilt. Those six made free throws are the second-fewest by an opposing team in the Kyle Keller coaching era.
• For a stretch of 7:17 in the opening half, North Dakota State was held without a field goal. During that time, SFA opened up the first of its two double-digit leads in the game.
• North Dakota State connected on eight of its 22 three-point field goal tries in the loss and used the long ball to stay within striking distance until the final horn. Paul Miller - who finished with a game-high 15 points - put in the final three-pointer for the Bison with three second remaining to pull the visitors within two points before Ivan Canete finished off the win with two makes at the free throw line.
• For the fifth time in the 'Jacks' six games this season, the team amassed 10 or more steals. In all, SFA came away with 13 thefts during the tilt including a season-best four from sophomore John Comeaux.
• Due to the fact that SFA received the majority of its points at the free throw line and through dribble-drive attacks to the rim, the 'Jacks totaled only six assists in the game. That's the fewest in a game for SFA this season and ties for the fewest in a game in the Kyle Keller coaching era.
• Back in action for the first time since March 15, 2017 against Idaho, senior Ty Charles checked in during the first half and proceeded to play 19 minutes. Charles finished with two points and led all SFA players with two assists in his 2017-18 debut.
SOPHOMORE SLUMP
• The only thing that second-year man Aaron Augustin has done is insert himself as the team's floor general - a position he isn't likely to relinquish any time soon if his early performances are any indication.
• The Suwanee, Ga., product has started each of the 'Jacks' first seven games and ranks sixth in the Southland Conference in assists per game (4.3) and fourth in assist to turnover ratio (2.1) while doing a great deal of damage to SFA's foes on the defensive end of the floor.
• Augustin leads the Southland Conference and ranks sixth nationally with 21 total steals. That works out to an average of three steals per game - a figure that is second best among all Southland Conference players and seventh among all NCAA Division I men's basketball student-athletes.
UP THE CHARTS
• Through his first seven games of 2017-18, SFA head coach Kyle Keller has seen his winning percentage steadily rise. Keller's win percentage now stands at an even .600 (24-16) after Tuesday night's victor over North Dakota State and he is moving up the 'Jacks' all-time coaching wins list as well.
• Keller needs nine more triumphs to move past Derek Allister (32 wins) for 10th all-time in career coaching victories at SFA.
COMING UP NEXT
One of the few schools in the nation that can boast about a home court winning percentage that rivals that of SFA through the past five seasons, Louisiana Tech welcomes the 'Jacks to the Thomas Assembly Center Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m. for one of the nation's premier mid-major bouts. The Bulldogs have posted an impressive 79-4 record inside their home facility since the start of the 2012-13 campaign which works out to a home court winning percentage of .952. That's only slightly lower than the 'Jacks' percentage of .962 (76-3) in that same span.
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