Saturday, December 16
Baton Rouge, La.
Noon
Stephen F. Austin
at
LSU
SFA Heads to SEC Country for Saturday Battle at LSU
12/15/2017 11:58:00 AM | Men's Basketball
'Jacks and Tigers meet for the first time at noon on SEC Network
Game Eleven
--/rv Stephen F. Austin (9-1) at --/--LSU (6-2)
Saturday, Dec. 16 | Noon | Pete Maravich Assembly Center (13,215) | Baton Rouge, La.
Live Stats | Watch (SEC Network+/ESPN app) | Listen (Q107.7/TuneIn) | SFA Game Notes | LSU Game Notes
TV | SEC Network (Channel Finder) | Play-by-Play • Matt Stewart | Analysis • Sean Farnham
--/rv Stephen F. Austin (9-1) at --/--LSU (6-2)
Saturday, Dec. 16 | Noon | Pete Maravich Assembly Center (13,215) | Baton Rouge, La.
Live Stats | Watch (SEC Network+/ESPN app) | Listen (Q107.7/TuneIn) | SFA Game Notes | LSU Game Notes
TV | SEC Network (Channel Finder) | Play-by-Play • Matt Stewart | Analysis • Sean Farnham
OPENING TIPS
• Armed with one of the best defenses in the nation as well as the program's best start since 2012-13, the Stephen F. Austin men's basketball team sets off on a journey to SEC country as it prepares to do battle with LSU inside the Maravich Center at noon Saturday.
• The 'Jacks' first-ever tilt with LSU will be televised on the SEC Network with Matt Stewart and Sean Farnham providing play-by-play and analysis. Additionally, the Southland/SEC clash will be carried online via SEC Network+. Making the trip to Baton Rouge with SFA is esteemed Nacogdoches resident and longtime voice of the 'Jacks Rob Meyers who will call the action on Q107.7 FM as well as the TuneIn app.
• Saturday afternoon marks the second of three game against SEC opposition for the 'Jacks in 2017-18. All-time, the 'Jacks are 3-26 against SEC foes and are searching for the program's first victory over a current SEC program since 1970. That year, SFA bested Texas A&M by an 89-82 score in College Station, Texas.
• Now in his second season in charge of SFA, head coach Kyle Keller has produced a 3-3 (.500) record against opponents SFA has played for the first time in program history. LSU and Arlington Baptist are the only two remaining first-time opponents on the 'Jacks' regular season schedule.
• SFA leads the nation in both steals per game (13.2) and turnovers forced per game (23.6). Additionally, the 'Jacks are among the top three in the nation in two other statistical categories including total steals (second, 132) and turnover margin (third, +7.7).
• The 'Jacks are the only Southland Conference program to possess three of the top ten scorers in the 13-team league. Sophomore Kevon Harris (17.5 ppg) ranks third in the league in scoring while TJ Holyfield (16.1 ppg) and Shannon Bogues (15.6 ppg) rank seventh and 10th.
• Monday morning, SFA appeared in the USA Today Coaches Poll by receiving one vote. It marked the 'Jacks' first appearance in the poll since 2015-16 when they received six total votes in the final edition of the rankings. Previously this season, SFA earned one vote in the AP Top 25 poll in the week three edition.
SCOUTING LSU | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• One of the players who will likely be in the running for 2017-18 SEC Freshman of the Year, Tremont Waters has burst onto the scene for LSU thus far. The first-year man out of New Haven, Conn., leads the Tigers and ranks fifth in the SEC in scoring with a points per game average of 18.1. Additionally, Waters is tops in the SEC in both assists per game (6.5) and steals per game (2.3).
• Imposing interior threat Duop Reath collected his second SEC Player of the Week citation of the 2017-18 season Monday afternoon after dropping 30 points on UNC-Wilmington. The 6'11 Australian leads the Tigers and ranks third in the SEC with a field goal percentage of .651. At 13.4 points per game, the senior is also LSU's second-leading scorer.
• Eight games into their 2017-18 season, the Tigers sit atop the SEC standings in a number of statistical categories. LSU is the top team in the 14-team league in field goal percentage (52.6-percent), free throw percentage (78.2-percent) and rebounding defense (29.8). One of seven SEC squads who are averaging 80 or more points per game, LSU ranks fourth in the league with a points per game average of 84.9.
• Taking care of the ball has been a hallmark of the Tigers thus far in 2017-18. LSU has committed only 98 total turnovers so far which is the 13th-lowest total in all of NCAA Division I men's basketball. Those 98 turnovers are the second-fewest in the SEC.
• Only 13 NCAA Division I men's basketball teams have accumulated fewer total rebounds than LSU thus far. The Tigers, who do not have a player averaging greater than 5.5 rebounds per game, have racked up a total of 271 rebounds through eight games in 2017-18 which ranks 338th nationally.
• Saturday afternoon will mark the first time LSU head coach Will Wade will face a Southland Conference squad in his head coaching career. In both of his previous coaching stops - at Chattanooga and VCU - Wade never faced an opponent from the 13-team league.
LAST TIME OUT
• Although he was out of the starting lineup for the first time in 2017-18, sophomore Kevon Harris put on a performance not seen by a Lumberjack in almost a quarter-century as he amassed 31 points in a 81-62 victory over Rice last Saturday afternoon.
• Harris' 31-point outburst represented the highest scoring total in a game by an SFA player this season and the second 30-point outing by a Lumberjack in 2017-18, too. Those 31 points came on a career-high 11 field goals made for the Ellenwood, Ga., product. The last time an SFA player scored 31 or more points in a game came on March 18, 2016, when Thomas Walkup finished with 33 in SFA's NCAA Tournament victory over West Virginia.
• Much of the damage wrought by Harris came from three-point range as the sophomore drilled eight of his 11 tries from downtown in the lopsided victory. Those eight three-pointers were the second-most in a game in SFA history and the most three-pointers by an SFA player since Jack Little slung in eight at North Texas on Jan. 21, 1993.
• Those eight three-pointers by Harris were the second-most in a game by a Southland Conference player this season and the sixth-most in a game by an NCAA Division I student-athlete
• Making the first start of his SFA career, junior Shannon Bogues put in 18 points on 6-of-14 shooting. It was Bogues' eight double-digit scoring outing of 2017-18 and the Killeen, Texas, product converted all six of his free throw tries to push his season free throw percentage to a team-leading mark of .867. Currently, Bogues ranks third in the Southland Confernece in free throw shooting and 10th in scoring (15.6 points per game).
• If it weren't for Rice spending the majority of the game at the free throw line, SFA's victory could have been much more lopsided. The Owls attempted 46 free throws - the 11th-most in a single game in NCAA Division I men's basketball this season - but hit only 27 of them to finish with a free throw percentage of .587. It marked the first time an SFA opponent attempted 40 or more free throws in a game since North Dakota State attempted exactly 40 on Dec. 12, 2008 in a game that went into triple overtime.
• In his first appearance in the starting lineup since March 15, 2017, senior Ty Charles played a season-high 29 minutes and finished with five points, two rebounds and a career-best six assists. Charles also finished with three of the 'Jacks' 17 steals in the triumph.
• SFA turned in its best outing of three-point field goal defense of the season, too, by limiting Rice to a palthy 1-of-17 (5.9-percent) showing from long range. It marked the first time that the 'Jacks held a squad below 10-percent shooting from three-point range since limiting Incarnate Word to a 1-of-13 (7.7-percent) showing on Feb. 15, 2016. Rice's 5.9-percent finish from long distance was the worst by an SFA opponent since Long Beach State went 0-for-8 from beyond the arc on Dec. 5, 2014.
• Sophomore Aaron Augustin did not play in the 'Jacks' tilt against Rice after suffering a minor injury in one of the team's practices leading up to the game.
• Rice's 17 field goals were a season-low by an SFA opponent and the lowest by an adversary of the Lumberjacks in a game since Houston Baptist put in just 16 field goals on Dec. 31, 2016.
• In the first meeting between SFA and Rice in Nacogdoches since 2001, SFA moved its all-time record against the Owls to 12-7.
• With the win, as well as back-to-back losses by Kansas inside Allen Fieldhouse, SFA can now claim that it possesses the best home court winning percentage since the start of the 2012-13 season. During that span, the 'Jacks have gone 78-3 inside William R. Johnson Coliseum for a winning percentage of .963. Arizona (86-4, .956 winning percentage) and Kansas (85-5, .944 winning percentage) are the only two schools in the nation who come close to SFA's nation-leading figure.
COMING UP NEXT
• Concluding its two-game SEC swing, SFA travels to Columbia, Mo., for the second time in program history for a Tuesday night tussle with Missouri. Tip-off between the 'Jacks and Tigers is set for 8:00 p.m. with the game set to be broadcast nationally on ESPNU.
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