Stephen F. Austin
Southeastern Louisiana
rv/rv SFA Opens Southland Play in Hammond Against Southeastern Louisiana
12/27/2017 8:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball
'Jacks have won four in a row over SLU and have won six straight Southland openers
rv/rv Stephen F. Austin (11-2, 0-0 Southland) at Southeastern Louisiana (6-7, 0-0 Southland)
Thursday, Dec. 28 | 7:00 p.m. | Hammond, La. | University Center (7,500)
Live Stats | Watch ($) | Listen (Q107.7/TuneIn) | SFA Game Notes | Southeastern Louisiana Game Notes
OPENING TIPS
• The University Center in Hammond, La., is the starting point of a quest to secure a fifth Southland Conference regular season title in the last six seasons for the Stephen F. Austin men's basketball team when the 'Jacks start their 18-game Southland slate Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. against Southeastern Louisiana.
• SFA's final game of the 2017 calendar year will be broadcast live locally on Q107.7 with highly knowledgeable basketball mind Rob Meyers providing play-by-play and analysis. Meyers' call of the tilt can also be heard nationwide on the TuneIn app.
• On Christmas Day, SFA secured a grand total of three combined votes throughout the AP Top 25 poll and the USA Today Coaches Poll. The 'Jacks picked up a single vote in the AP listing and received two votes in the Coaches Poll, marking the first time since the 2015-16 postseason polls that SFA appeared in both at the same time.
• Each of the last six Southland Conference openers SFA has taken part in has resulted in a win for the 'Jacks. All-time, SFA has posted a 17-12 (.586) record in league openers and the 'Jacks will go gunning for their sixth consecutive triumph over Southeastern Louisiana Thursday night as well.
• With their regular season nonconference schedule in the books, the 'Jacks have succeeded in posting one of the most successful early-season stretches in program history. SFA posted 11 wins through its first 13 games, marking the first time since 2012-13 in which the team racked up 10 or more wins headed into league play. Those 11 wins are the second-most in program history throughout the team's regular season non-conference slate trailing only the 2007-08 club which went 12-1 heading into Southland Conference action.
• Throughout the month of December, sophomore Kevon Harris has not had much interest in missing shots. During SFA's six games in the final month of the calendar year, Harris is averaging 21 points while firing at a clip of 53.5-percent (46-of-86) from the field and an astounding 68.8-percent (22-of-32) from three-point range. As a matter of fact, Harris is shooting over 10-percent better from long range than from the free throw line (12-of-21, 57.1-percent) in December.
SCOUTING SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• Now in his third season in Southeastern Louisiana colors, Marlain Veal has emerged as one of the best passing guards in the Southland Conference. Veal leads the 13-team league and ranks 52nd nationally with an assists per game average of 5.2 and is also the Lions' second-leading scorer at 12.3 points per game.
• Outside of Eddy Polanco, who hits free throws at a rate of 79.5-percent, Southeastern Louisiana has suffered from an inaccurate aim from the foul line so far this season. The Lions rank dead last in the Southland Conference and 336th out of 351 NCAA Division I men's basketball teams in terms of free throw shooting as they own a team percentage of only 62.9.
• Another third-year man who leads the Lions is Moses Greenwood. The forward is tops on the team and ninth in the Southland Conference in terms of rebounding at 6.4 per game. Only two Southland players have succeeded in topping Greenwood's offensive rebounds per game average of 2.7 throughout the early stages of 2017-18, too.
• Greenwood is hardly the only member of the Lions who excells at crashing the offensive glass. As a team, Southeastern Louisiana ranks 36th nationally and third in the Southland Conference by pulling down an average of 12.85 offensive rebounds per game.
• Just two players - Jordan Capps and Marlain Veal - average more than 10 points per game for the Lions. Capps leads the team and ranks 16th in the league in scoring at 13.1 points per game while Veal is second on the squad and 17th in the Southland (12.3 points per game).
• Now in his fourth season in charge of Southeastern Louisiana, Jay Ladner is still in search of his first victory over Stephen F. Austin. Ladner is 0-3 against SFA but throughout his tenure the Lions have done a good job protecting their home floor. Southeastern Louisiana is 28-13 at the University Center under Ladner with two of those 13 losses coming against SFA.
LAST TIME OUT
• Back inside William R. Johnson Coliseum for the final time in the 2017 calendar year, SFA closed out its regular season non-conference schedule by surpassing the century mark for the second time this season during a 116-66 stomping of Arlington Baptist four days before Christmas.
• During the course of the rout, SFA drilled 50 shots - the fourth-most in a single game by an NCAA Division I men's basketball squad this season - and shot 62.5-percent from the field. That percentage was the highest in a single game by the 'Jacks since hitting a program record 72.2-percent (39-of-54) of their field goal tries in a Southland Conference home win over Abilene Christian on Jan. 16, 2016.
• Many of the 'Jacks found themselves on the receiving end of passes from senior Ivan Canete who finished the game with a career-best 11 assists in 24 minutes of action. The Lake Worth, Fla., product became the first SFA player since Thomas Walkup in 2016 to dish out 10 or more helpers in a game and his 11 assists rank as the eighth-most in a single game in program history. Canete is the first Lumberjack to pass out 11 or more assists since Hal Bateman amassed 11 in a non-conference win over Howard Payne on Nov. 9, 2012.
• At no point in the 40-minute affair did SFA find itself behind on the scoreboard. It was the second time in 2017-18 in which the 'Jacks never fell behind in a game with the other occasion happening in a wire-to-wire victory at Longwood in the squad's season opener.
• In all, the 'Jacks dished out 31 assists throughout the victory - the most in a single game in the Kyle Keller coaching era and the highest assist total by an SFA squad in almost a decade. The last time the 'Jacks exceeded 30 assists in a game came in a triple-overtime victory over North Dakota State on Dec. 12, 2008, when SFA finished with 32 helpers.
• In all, SFA established new season-highs in a total of eight statistical categories including second-half points (56), field goals made (50), field goal attempts (80), field goal percentage (62.5), defensive rebounds (29), rebounding margin (+20), assists (31) and blocked shots (six).
• Five 'Jacks finished with 12 or more points in the victory led by sophomore Kevon Harris who scored a game-high 29. Ty Charles put in a season-high 14 points off of the bench which represented his first double-digit scoring outing since putting in 16 during SFA's Southland Conference Tournament semifinal setback to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on March 10, 2017.
• In his seventh game of the season, Charles also hauled in a season-high six rebounds. Junior TJ Holyfield led the squad by finishing with nine boards as the Albuquerque, N.M., product finished one carom shy of a double-double.
• For the second time in his SFA tenure, sophomore guard John Comeaux did not miss a single shot. Comeaux, a product of Beaumont, Texas, went 6-of-6 from the floor and finished with 12 points.
• Thanks to their lopsided victory, the 'Jacks moved up to the top spot in the Southland Conference in terms of scoring margin. SFA owns a league-best scoring margin of +15.5 which is also the 30th-highest figure in the nation.
• Another area in which SFA took over the top spot in the 13-team Southland Conference was in terms of field goal percentage. Following the rout, SFA's field goal percentage for the season settled at 49.6-percent which also stands as the 31st-highest in the land.
DEFENSE
• As it heads into Southland Conference play, SFA has had ample opportunities to test out one of the nation's best defenses on 13 non-conference foes.
• No team in the 13-team Southland - and few in the nation - can boast about owning a better defense than the 'Jacks who rank second in all of NCAA Division I men's basketball in total steals (166), steals per game (12.8) and turnovers forced per game (22.85). Additionally, SFA's turnover margin of +7.4 is the third best figure in the land and all four of the aforementioned averages are tops in the Southland.
• Many of the 'Jacks' impressive defensive numbers hinge on the individual defensive efforts of five players who average better than 1.6 steals per game. Sophomore Aaron Augustin ranks 31st nationally in steals per game (2.25) and 30th in the land with 27 total thefts.
• In addition to Augustin, TJ Holyfield, Ivan Canete, John Comeaux and Shannon Bogues all rank among the top 175 players in the nation in terms of steals per game. Below is a look at how all of SFA's steals leaders rack up nationally.
Player | Total Steals (NCAA rank) | Steals/Game (NCAA rank)
Aaron Augustin | 27 (30th) | 2.25 (31st)
TJ Holyfield | 25 (56th) | 1.92 (67th)
Ivan Canete | 24 (69th) | 1.85 (88th)
John Comeaux | 22 (109th) | 1.69 (140th)
Shannon Bogues | 21 (123rd) | 1.62 (173rd)
WINS
• Over the past five seasons, no NCAA Division I men's basketball team in the nation owns a better in-conference record - or more in-conference wins - than the 'Jacks.
• Since the start of the 2012-13 campaign, SFA has posted an 81-9 (.900) record in Southland Conference games. The only program that has come close in that span is Wichita State -formerly of the Missouri Valley Conference. The Shockers posted an 80-10 (.889) record in MVC tilts in the last five seasons.
• Of the 'Jacks' nine league losses over the last five seasons, only two of them have come by 10 or more points.
CHAMPIONSHIPS
• After seeing its streak of four-straight Southland Conference regular season titles snapped in 2016-17, SFA has its sights set squarely on returning to the top of the league standings in 2017-18.
• Since the 2012-13 season, SFA is one of an elite group of 10 NCAA Division I men's basketball programs that have captured four or more regular season league titles.
• Other programs on that exclusive list include Belmont, Bucknell, Gonzaga, High Point, Kansas, Texas Southern, Valparaiso, Villanova and Wichita State.
A SCORE TO SETTLE
• Not only do the 'Jacks possess a fearsome defense, they remain one of the top scoring teams in all of NCAA Division I men's basketball this season.
• SFA ranks second in the Southland Conference and 33rd in the land with its scoring average of 84.2 points per game. Currently, that's the ninth-best scoring average in program history.
THE GET DOWN
• One of the nation's most turnover-prone teams one season ago, the 'Jacks saw that trend continue in the early stages of the 2017-18 campaign by committing 20 or more turnovers in each of their first four games.
• Since then, however, SFA has locked in an focused on making sure their turnover numbers don't get that high again.
• The 'Jacks averaged 20.8 throwaways during that four-game stretch to open the season but through their last nine games they are committing just 13.1 - 7.7 fewer per game.
NON-CONFERENCE, NON-ISSUE
• In all but one of its seasons since 2012-13, Stephen F. Austin has posted a record against non-conference opponents above .500.
• Including its 11-2 mark this season, the 'Jacks have produced a 53-20 (.726) record against non-conference foes in that span.
HARD-ROCKIN' HARRIS
• After taking a sixth-man role as a freshman, certified hard-rocking cat Kevon Harris has emerged as one of the finest players in the Southland Conference throughout his second season in Lumberjack colors.
• The guard/forward out of Ellenwood, Ga., ranks third in the Southland Conference in scoring at 18 points per game, making him one of only two SFA players in the last 19 years to average at least 18 points per game. The other name on that list is Thomas Walkup who averaged 18.1 as a senior in 2015-16.
• Harris ranks eighth in the Southland in terms of field goal percentage (.534) and is one of only two players in the league who are connecting at a rate of 50-percent or higher from three-point range. SFA's sophomore has drilled 50.8-percent (30-of-59) of his three-pointers and ranks fifth in the league in terms of three-pointers made per game (2.3).
SO FRESH…
• Despite a roster of just 12 healthy individuals, the 'Jacks' are anything but high-usage when it comes to their personnel.
• No player among the Lumberjacks' ranks sits among the top ten in the Southland Conference in terms of minutes played per game and only TJ Holyfield (28.8 minutes per game) averages more than 27 minutes per game.
A DECADE OF DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE
• Since the 2010-11 season, when the 'Jacks' Southland Conference opponents saw SFA on the upcoming schedule, they likely were asking themselves just one question: how do we score?
• SFA has boasted the league's top scoring defense in Southland Conference-only games in five of the seven seasons since the 2010s began. When SFA wasn't leading the league, it was right up there in the top three, too.
ON THE RISE
• After starting the season unranked in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll, SFA has rocketed up the charts in recent weeks.
• Currently, SFA ranks sixth in the listing which is a five-spot improvement from their 11th-place position last week.
• The 'Jacks made their debut in the poll on Tuesday, Dec. 11, checking in at 19th.
THE FATHER, THE SON AND THE HOLYFIELD
• When the Southland Conference unveiled its list of 2017-18 preseason all-league performers, a face to familiar to SFA followers appeared on it.
• Junior TJ Holyfield earned Preseason All-Southland Conference First Team honors, becoming the first Lumberjack to do so since Thomas Walkup prior to the start of SFA's 2015-16 season. Holyfield was the only junior to appear on the five-man Preseason All-Southland Conference First Team.
• All junior TJ Holyfield did during his sophomore season was serve as SFA's leading scorer (11.7 points per game) and rebounder (7.2 rebounds per game) - something not done by a Lumberjack underclassman since Matt Kingsley did so in the 2005-06 season.
• As he enters his first season as an upperclassman, Holyfield is poised to move up the 'Jacks' all-time records in a number of categories and has a good chance to hit a pair of impressive statistical milestones.
• So far, the Albuquerque, N.M., product has 103 blocked shots to his credit and with 30 more Holyfield would become the program's all-time leading shot blocker with 133, surpassing Taylor Smith's career total of 132.
• In order to reach 500 rebounds for his career, Holyfield needs to add 39 more to his career total of 461. To get to 1,000 career points, he requires 169 points - roughly an average of 9.4 per game through SFA's Southland Conference schedule. Should he hit both of those plateaus, he would be just the eighth player in the program's NCAA Division I history to score at least 1,000 points and grab at least 500 rebounds.
CHARLES BACK IN CHARGE
• Sidelined for the first six games of SFA's 2017-18 campaign, senior Ty Charles has returned to action in each of the 'Jacks' last seven games and is primed to make his final season in Lumberjack colors a memorable one.
• Charles has a chance to become just the fifth player in the history of the program to reach 100 career wins. The Kennedale, Texas, product has 86 wins to his credit and needs 14 more to reach the century mark.
• Other milestones Charles is approaching are the 500-rebound mark and the 1,000-point mark. Charles needs 37 more rebounds to arrive at 500 and 146 more points for an even 1,000 in his collegiate career.
COMING UP NEXT
• The first adversary to pay a visit to William R. Johnson Coliseum in 2018 will be Nicholls as the 'Jacks host their Southland Conference rival Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. SFA has won nine in a row against the Colonels who were picked to finish 10th in the 2017-18 Southland Conference Preseason Poll.
-SFA-
