Stephen F. Austin
Abilene Christian
'Jacks Travel West for Pivotal Wednesday Night Southland Matchup with Abilene Christian
1/16/2018 6:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball
SFA sits a half-game back of first place in the Southland Conference standings
Stephen F. Austin (15-3, 4-1 Southland) at Abilene Christian (12-7, 4-2 Southland)
Wednesday, Jan. 17 | 7:00 p.m. | Abilene, Texas | Moody Coliseum (4,600)
Live Stats | Watch (Southland Digital Network) | Listen (Q107.7/TuneIn) | SFA Game Notes | ACU Game Notes
Play-by-Play (Eleven Sports/Q107.7) | Jared Sandler/Rob Meyers
Analysis (Eleven Sports/Q107.7) | Chris McColpin/Rob Meyers
OPENING TIPS
• A light 10-day stretch in terms of games played but a long journey in terms of total mileage begins Wednesday night in Abilene, Texas, when the 'Jacks seek to keep pace with the rest of the Southland Conference's leaders when they take on Abilene Christian at 7:00 p.m. inside Moody Coliseum.
• Eleven Sports Network will televise the 33rd meeting between the 'Jacks and Wildcats with Jared Sandler and Chris McColpin providing play-by-play and analysis. Fans unable to make the trip to Abilene can take in every second of the action on channel 755 through SuddenLink in Nacogdoches or Abilene, channel 623 on DirecTV, channel 1665 on AT&T U-verse and channel 597 on Verizon FiOS.
• For desktop/laptop computer and mobile device users, the Southland Digital Network will also carry the game. Additionally, the Southland Conference app - available on iPhone, Android, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku - provides another way to catch the action.
• Over the airwaves, Rob Meyers will be sitting on the sidelines to provide play-by-play and analysis of the clash between the 'Jacks and Wildcats on Q107.7 FM in Nacogdoches and nationwide on the TuneIn app.
• Currently the 'Jacks are one of three teams - Sam Houston State and Southeastern Louisiana being the other two - who sit a half-game back of New Orleans and Nicholls for the top spot in the Southland Conference standings. Both the Privateers and Colonels are 5-1 in league play while SFA is 4-1.
• No team in the nation has surpassed the 'Jacks' in-conference record of 85-10 since the 2012-13 season began, but SFA will surely have its hands full Wednesday night when it runs into one of the teams who have handed the 'Jacks one of those 10 setbacks in that span.
• Senior Ty Charles and junior TJ Holyfield are both on the cusp of becoming the newest members of the 'Jacks' 500-career rebound club. Holyfield requires only eight more rebounds to get to the 500-mark while Charles can reach the milstone by grabbing 10. Those two are seeking to become just the ninth and 10th players in SFA's NCAA Division I history to record at least 500 rebounds in a career.
SCOUTING ABILENE CHRISTIAN | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• In their first season as a full-fledged NCAA Division I member, the Wildcats have wasted no time in putting together a great season as they try to make the cut for postseason play. The team's 12 wins so far are one shy of tying a season high during head coach Joe Golding's tenure and in Southland action ACU boasts a 4-2 mark with all of their results in league play going final with margins of eight or fewer points. The team's pair of league setbacks have come by a combined five points to New Orleans (77-74) and to Southeastern Louisiana (72-70).
• Now an upperclassman, Jaren Lewis has continued to serve as one of the Wildcats' key cogs. The junior leads the Southland Conference and ranks 24th nationally with a field goal percentage of 61.6-percent. Most of those makes come from in close and as a result Lewis ranks second on the team in scoring at 13.4 points per game. Not only a scorer, Lewis is the squad's best rebounder at 6.4 per game.
• A highly accurate shooting team, the Wildcats are second only to the 'Jacks in the Southland Conference when it comes to field goal percentage. ACU is hitting 48.3-percent of its shots which ranks 39th in all of NCAA Division I men's basketball. That collective number gets a huge boost from Lewis and Jaylen Franklin who are both shooting .560 or better.
• For all of their accuracy from the field, one area where the Wildcats do not rank high is in terms of rebounding. Abilene Christian ranks last in the Southland in offensive rebounding at 8.3 per game while leads to a league-low rebounding offense of 33.1 per tilt. Aside from Lewis' 6.4 boards per game, no other ACU player averages over 4.6 rebounds per tilt.
• Possessing a diverse offensive attack, four ACU players average 10 or more points per game led by Jalone Friday's scoring average of 13.7. Jaren Lewis (13.4), Tevin Foster (12.4) and Jaylen Franklin (10.0) round out that quartet but none of those players rank among the top ten in the Southland in scoring.
• When they hit the court against the 'Jacks Wednesday night, ACU will be in search of back-to-back wins over SFA for the first time in almost four decades. Following their victory over SFA inside Moody Coliseum last season, ACU is looking to secure a second-straight win over SFA for the first time since the 1979-80 and 1980-81 seasons.
LAST TIME OUT
• Continuing their dominance over their Southland Confernece rivals from San Antonio, the 'Jacks rocked Incarnate Word, 83-63, inside William R. Johnson Coliseum Saturday night. The day was a wild one for the league as the final team without a conference loss - Southeastern Louisiana - suffered its first to tighten the race for the league's 2017-18 regular season crown considerably.
• Sophomore Kevon Harris was hardly lights out from the field, going just 5-of-13, but went 8-of-9 at the free throw line to help the Ellenwood, Ga., product collect his third double-double of the 2017-18 campaign. No SFA player has more double-doubles that Harris who sprung for game highs in both points (19) and rebounds (10) in the 'Jacks' 20-point win over the Cardinals.
• One of the best offensive performances of the night came courtesy of senior Leon Gilmore III. The Houston, Texas, native racked up 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting which featured a perfect 2-of-2 mark from three-point range. He set new season highs in field goals made, field goals attempted and three-pointers made with his performance and tied season-bests in three-pointers attempted, blocks (one), steals (one) and minutes played (28).
• The third member of SFA's double-digit scoring contingent in the rout was junior Shannon Bogues who tacked on 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Bogues did not miss a free throw, either, going a perfect 4-of-4 from the line to up his 2017-18 free throw percentage to .809 - the best on the team and the seventh-highest in the Southland Conference.
• Though the game would go down as a win for the 'Jacks, it did not start out in the home team's favor. Incarnate Word opened the tilt on an 8-0 run and SFA didn't claim its first lead until 10:02 remained in the first half. When an SFA opponent started the game on a run of 5-0 or more, the 'Jacks were 1-2 before Saturday.
• Second-year SFA head coach Kyle Keller picked up his 33rd career win with Saturday night's victory over Incarnate Word. Those 33 wins rank 10th all-time on SFA's coaching wins list, one game higher than Derek Allister who won 32 games during his four seasons in charge of SFA (1996-00).
• Incarnate Word started the game 5-of-5 from the field, but the 'Jacks clamped down on defense to hold the Cardinals in check the rest of the way. Through the rest of the opening frame, Incarnate Word went only 7-of-20 (.350). Two of the Cardinals' four three-pointers came in their opening salvo, too, and following that Incarnate Word hit just two of their remaining 12 three-point tries.
• Saturday's win was the team's third victory by a margin of 20 or more points in head coach Kyle Keller's tenure at SFA. It also marked the squad's largest margin of victory in a Southland Conference game this season.
• Three of the five meeting between Incarnate Word and Stephen F. Austin inside William R. Johnson Coliseum have been decided by 20 or more points. The win upped the 'Jacks' record against the Cardinals at home to 5-0.
• During the game, the 'Jacks committed only 17 personal fouls - a season low. As a result, the Cardinals connected on only 15 of their 22 free throws and also attempted just 14 three-pointers - a season-low by an SFA opponent.
• TJ Holyfield finished with 10 points, pushing his career point total to 899 - the highest total on the team.
• Thanks to the win, the 'Jacks moved to 11-0 inside William R. Johnson Coliseum this season and extended their home-court winning streak to 12 games. That is the 14th-longest active home court winning streak in the nation.
• Just 12 NCAA Division I men's basketball teams have more wins to their credit in 2017-18 than SFA. The 'Jacks' 15 wins are the most in the Southland Conference and make SFA one of 14 teams in the country with exactly 15 victories and no team in the state of Texas has more victories in 2017-18. Only Texas Tech, who is currently ranked eighth in the AP Top 25 poll, has an equal number of wins when looking solely at NCAA Division I teams from the state of Texas.
• Below is a full breakdown of where Stephen F. Austin's points came from in its home victory over Incarnate Word:
Two-pointers | 62.7% (52-83)
Three-pointers | 18.1% (15-83)
Free throws | 19.3% (16-83)
Points in the paint | 57.8% (48-83)
Points off turnovers | 38.6% (32-83)
Second chance points | 20.5% (17-83)
Fast break points | 16.9% (14-83)
Starters points | 57.8% (48-83)
Bench Points | 42.2% (35-83)
THE LINE STARTS HERE
• Through 18 of their 31 regular season games, the 'Jacks are leading the 13-team Southland Conference in seven statistical categories.
• SFA is tops in the league in field goal percentage (.487, 33rd nationally), scoring margin (+13.7, 19th nationally), steals per game (11.3, second nationally), total steals (203, second nationally), turnover margin (+6.3, third nationally), turnovers forced per game (21.89, first nationally) and winning percentage (.833, 16th nationally).
• Another area where SFA is the best in the Southland is in terms of total wins. The 'Jacks' 15 wins are at least three more than any other team in the league and makes SFA one of 14 teams with exactly 15 triumphs this season. Just 12 other NCAA Division I men's basketball teams have posted more wins than the 'Jacks thus far in 2017-18.
TOP TEN TJ
• A little over halfway into his third regular season of college basketball, junior TJ Holyfield has cemented himself as not only one of the best SFA has to offer but one of the finest players in the Southland, too.
• The Albuquerque, N.M., product is the only player in the Southland to rank among the top ten in field goal percentage (third, .574), three-point field goal percentage (second, .452) and free throw percentage (10th, .800).
• In all, Holyfield ranks among the top 10 players in the 13-team league in seven statistical categories. Aside from his trio of top-ten shooting percentages, Holyfield ranks eighth in the Southland in scoring (14.9 ppg), eighth in rebounding (6.6/game), 10th in blocked shots (1.1/game) and fourth in offensive rebounding (2.7/game).
• After snaring two rebounds in the 'Jacks' Southland Conference win over Incarnate Word Saturday night, Holyfield also remained at 10th place on SFA's DI career rebounding charts. For his career, Holyfield has grabbed 492 rebounds and with eight more he would become only the ninth player in SFA's NCAA Division I history to reach at least 500.
IF SFA WINS
• The 'Jacks' record would improve to 16-3 and 5-1 in Southland Conference play.
• The 'Jacks' would secure their 10th win in the last 11 games over Abilene Christian.
• The 'Jacks would improve to 18-15 all-time over Abilene Christian.
• It would give SFA head coach Kyle Keller the first win of his career over Abilene Christian.
IF SFA LOSES
• It would drop the 'Jacks' record to 15-4 and 4-2 in Southland Conference play.
• It would be the team's second-straight loss to Abilene Christian and the first consecutive losses to ACU in Abilene since 1979 and 1980.
• SFA's all-time record in the series would dip to 17-16.
COMING UP NEXT
• Another long road trip awaits the 'Jacks as they head to Conway, Ark., for a Wednesday, Jan. 24, matchup with Central Arkansas and high-scoring guard Jordan Howard. SFA has never lost to the Bears and that Wednesday night battle will serve as the 'Jacks' final road game in the month of January.
