Stephen F. Austin
Alabama
'Jacks End Non-Conference Slate with Huge Home Showdown Against Alabama
12/29/2018 3:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball
SFA hosts an SEC program for first time in program history
Game Twelve
SFA (7-4) vs. Alabama (8-3)
Sunday, Dec. 30 | 5:00 p.m. | William R. Johnson Coliseum (7,203) | Nacogdoches, Texas
Live Stats | Watch (ESPNU/ESPN app) | Listen (Q107.7/TuneIn) | SFA Game Notes | Alabama Game Notes
Play-by-Play/Analysis (ESPNU) | Lowell Gallindo/Jimmy Dykes
Play-by-Play/Analysis (Q107.7/TuneIn) | Rob Meyers
THE OPENING TIP
• For the first time in program history, the SFA men's basketball team welcomes an SEC combatant inside William R. Johnson Coliseum. Alabama is that squad and the 'Jacks' historic clash with the Crimson Tide will tip off at 5:00 p.m., and the game is sponsored by Whataburger.
• ESPNU will carry the inaugural matchup between the 'Jacks and Crimson Tide with Lowell Galindo and Jimmy Dykes providing play-by-play and analysis.
• Longtime SFA men's basketball play-by-play man Rob Meyers will be stationed courtside and is set to deliver the call on Q107.7 FM in Nacogdoches. Meyers' narration can also be heard nationwide via the TuneIn app.
• The 'Jacks' showdown with Alabama signals the final regular season non-conference game for both teams. In Kyle Keller's tenure as SFA's head coach, the 'Jacks have won at least seven non-conference games in two of his three seasons.
• Alabama is not the first current member of the SEC to play SFA inside William R. Johnson Coliseum. That distinction belongs to Texas A&M who traveled to Nacogoches to take on the 'Jacks in the 1998-99 season. In that season, however, the Aggies were still under the banner of the Big 12.
• Prior to Sunday, the last power five program to take on SFA inside William R. Johnson Coliseum was Texas Tech on Nov. 24, 2009.
SFA vs. THE SEC
• Sunday marks the 'Jacks' 32nd encounter with a current member of the SEC. All-time, the 'Jacks are 4-27 (.129) against current teams from that league.
• Three of those triumphs came against Texas A&M in 1932, 1968 and 1970 respectively. At the time, the Aggies were not aligned with the SEC meaning the 'Jacks' only true win over an SEC program came last season.
• In Baton Rouge, La., on Dec. 16, 2017, SFA took down LSU by an 83-82 score to deliver the program's first victory over the Tigers. The inaugural meeting between the squad also marked SFA head coach Kyle Keller's first career head coaching triumph over an SEC foe.
SCOUTING ALABAMA | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• Heading to Nacogdoches on a three-game winning streak the Crimson Tide are led by the trio of Kira Lewis, Jr., John Petty and Donta Hall who average 14.8, 11.5 and 11.0 points per game respectively.
• Alabama's three-game winning streak started on Sunday, Dec. 9, with a 76-73 home triumph over Arizona. The streak also includes victories over Liberty and Penn State.
• A strong rebounding club, Alabama ranks 50th in the nation and fifth in the SEC with a rebounding margin of +5.8. (38.3-32.5). Leading the way in the rebounding department is Hall who pulls down 7.6 per game.
• Hall also represents a strong defensive presence down in the post. His 2.18 blocked shots per game is the nation's 33rd-highest average and have helped the Crimson Tide rank 21st nationally in rejections per game (5.3).
• Alabama lost its only true road game of the 2018-19 season thus far and is on a five-game losing skid in true road games dating back to last season. Since the start of the 2017-18 season, the Crimson tide is 2-9 in true road games.
• Over the last three seasons, Alabama is 5-7 in games played on ESPNU.
• Now in his fourth season as the Crimson Tide's head coach, Avery Johnson is 0-3 when coaching Alabama in the state of Texas.
LAST TIME OUT
• Fresh off a thrilling one-point win at Baylor on Tuesday, Dec. 18, the 'Jacks did not show any signs of rust as they hammered visiting Arlington Baptist 97-47 in their penultimate non-conference game of the 2018-19 regular season.
• SFA moved to 2-0 all-time against Arlington Baptist with both of the 'Jacks' wins coming by exactly 50 points.
• SFA's 50-point margin of victory against the Patriots is the largest margin of victory in the Kyle Keller coaching era.
• Kevon Harris upped his season averages in a big way by going off for a 24-point, 10-rebound double-double. Both of those figures were game highs and it marked the second time in 2018-19 that Harris turned in a double-double effort. The junior out of Ellenwood, Ga., has two of the 'Jacks' three double-doubles so far this year.
• In all, six SFA players finished with 10 or more points in the rout. Included in that group were Harris, Shannon Bogues (16), Mitchell Seraille (13), Nathan Bain (11), Davonte Fitzgerald (11) and Karl Nicholas (10).
• Seraille established a new season and career high by spring for 13 points while Bain went a perfect 5-of-5 from the field in order to net his 11. SFA has now had a player go 5-for-5 or better from the field against Arlington Baptist in each of the two games it has played against the Patriots as John Comeaux netted 12 points on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting night in the 'Jacks' showdown with ABU on Dec. 21, 2017.
• Bogues flirted with a double-double himself but ultimately finished just one assist shy of turning in his second double-double of the campaign. The senior out of Killeen, Texas, passed out a game and career-high nine assists and also contributed two of the 'Jacks' eight steals.
• Nicholas blocked three shots in the win, upping his season average to a team-leading 1.5 per game. As of this writing, Nicholas ranks third in the Southland and 104th nationally with that blocked shots average.
• SFA put up a splendid shooting split as a team, going .651/.500/.455 in the 50-point blowout. Once the game ended, the 'Jacks had posted team single-game season highs in points, first-half points, second-half points, field goals made, field goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage and rebounding margin (+16).
• Walk-on Edward Ruiz made his SFA debut in the win, too. The junior out of Katy, Texas, got in for one minute in the second half while Rance Cole netted his second basket of the 2018-19 campaign.
• Harris continued his hot shooting in the victory as well. The junior laced five of his eight three-point field goal tries giving him eight over his last two games. During that span, Harris has gone 8-of-12 (66.7-percent) from long range and has as many downtown makes as he did in SFA's first nine games of the 2018-19 campaign.
• SFA attempted just 11 free throws while making only five of them. That pushed the 'Jacks' free throw numbers down even further and currently SFA ranks 340th out of 353 NCAA Division I men's basketball teams in total free throws attempted (169) and 342nd in free throws made (112).
• The 'Jacks hammered home nine dunks in the 50-point victory with three of them coming off the mitts of Seraille.
• For the first time this season, SFA never trailed in the game.
• The win pushed the 'Jacks' impressive home court record to an unparalleled 92-5 (.948) since the start of the 2011-12 campaign. That home court winning percentage remains the highest in all of college basketball during that span.
SUIT HIM UP
• Aside from SFA head coach Kyle Keller, who coached against Alabama frequently during his previous stint at Texas A&M, there aren't a whole lot of individuals associated with the SFA men's basketball program who have a great deal of familiarity with the Crimson Tide.
• One person, however, has playing experience against Alabama. That individual is the 'Jacks' athletic trainer, Chris Elliott. Elliott, who played college basketball at NCAA Division II Trevecca Nazarene, scored four points and contributed one rebound, one assist, one blocked shot and one steal in 11 minutes of action in the Trojans' 87-65 setback to Alabama on Nov. 6, 2015.
• Elliott was a four-year letterwinner for the Trojans and their game against Alabama was Avery Johnson's first as the head coach of the Crimson Tide.
• To this day, Elliott remains a problem on the court and has been known to throw down a ferocious dunk or two on his coworkers during lunchtime pick-up games.
BOGUES CONTINUES TO BRING THE HEAT
• truTV play-by-play man Spero Dedes exclaimed that Shannon Bogues was, "comin' with the heat," when Bogues hammered home a two-handed slam for SFA's first points of its NCAA Tournament showdown with Texas Tech last March. Since then, Bogues has not stopped coming with that exact same heat.
• Bogues leads SFA in a multitude of categories including three-point field goal attempts (73), assists per game (4.8), minutes per game (35:19), points per game (17.1), three-pointers per game (2.82), three-point field goal percentage (.425), three-pointers made (31), total assists (53), field goal attempts (149), field goals made (68) and points (188).
• On the Southland Conference scene, Bogues leads the league in minutes per game and ranks second in assists per game, three-pointers per game, three-point field goal percentage, three-pointers made and field goal attempts.
• His scoring average of 17.1 points per game is the third-highest in the league while his 188 total points are the third most by any player in the conference.
COMING UP NEXT
• The conclusion of the 'Jacks' longest home stand of the 2018-19 campaign signals the start of Southland Conference play. Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., SFA starts league play be welcoming in defending Southland Conference champion Southeastern Louisiana. The rematch of the 2018 Southland Conference Tournament title game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.
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