Stephen F. Austin
Incarnate Word
Final February Road Game Sends 'Jacks to Alamo City to Battle UIW
2/16/2018 9:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball
SFA sits in third place in Southland standings, one game back of Nicholls
Stephen F. Austin (21-5, 10-3 Southland) at Incarnate Word (5-18, 0-13 Southland)
Saturday, Feb. 17 | 3:00 p.m. | McDermott Convocation Center (2,000) | San Antonio, Texas
Live Stats | Watch | Listen (Q107.7/TuneIn) | SFA Game Notes | UIW Game Notes
OPENING TIPS
• The penultimate regular season road game for the Stephen F. Austin men's basketball team sends the 'Jacks to the Alamo City where they will do battle with Incarnate Word, one of the two Southland Conference teams without a league victory to their credit, Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. inside the McDermott Convocation Center.
• Noted Alamo enthusiast and longtime voice of the Lumberjacks Rob Meyers will be courtside to provide his play-by-play and analysis of the ninth meeting between the Lumbejacks and Cardinals. His call can be heard on Learfield's Lumberjack Sports Network - Q107.7 FM in Nacogdoches and worldwide on the TuneIn app.
• As has been the case for the past few weeks, SFA still sits one game behind Nicholls for the top spot in the Southland Conference standings. Currently the 'Jacks are in third place in the league, just a half-game back of Southeastern Louisiana. Only 1.5 games separate the top five teams in the Southland Conference.
• Strange as it may seem - especially after they started 8-of-44 from three-point range through their first three Southland Conference games of the season, the 'Jacks currently lead the league in accuracy from downtown. As a team, SFA has connected on 37.3-percent of its tries from long range which is the 80th-best figure in all of NCAA Division I men's basketball.
• Much of the 'Jacks' damage from long distance has been done by sophomore Kevon Harris who currently stands as the Southland Conference's top three-point shooter. The Ellenwood, Ga., product has drilled a team-high 46 three-pointers and is hitting 46.9-percent of his tries from beyond the arc this sesaon.
• Harris, however, is far from the only 'Jack who has been enjoying a great deal of success from downtown as of late. Junior Shannon Bogues took over as SFA's leading scorer and is averaging 16.0 points per game, largely on the strength of some fine long-range bombing. Over the last seven games, Bogues has gone 20-of-33 (60.6-percent) from that distance.
• Possessing a lifetime scoring average of 9.0 points per game against Incarnate Word, junior forward TJ Holyfield needs only to reach that average on Saturday to reach the 1,000-point mark. Holyfield is currently sitting at 991 points in his collegiate career.
SFA vs. INCARNATE WORD | SERIES HISTORY
Games | 8
All-Time Series | SFA leads 7-1 (.875)
In Nacogdoches, Texas | 5-0 (1.000)
At William R. Johnson Coliseum | 5-0 (1.000)
In San Antonio, Texas | 2-1 (.667)
At McDermott Convocation Center | 2-1 (.667)
Last Win | at SFA 83, UIW 63 (1/13/18)
Last Home Win | at SFA 83, UIW 63 (1/13/18)
Last Road Win | at UIW 58, SFA 84 (2/15/16)
Last Loss | at UIW 70, SFA 68 (1/25/17)
Last Home Loss | n/a
Last Road Loss | at UIW 70, SFA 68 (1/25/17)
Largest Margin of Victory | 38, at SFA 84, UIW 46 (2/15/16)
Largest Margin of Defeat | 2, at UIW 70, SFA 68 (1/25/17)
Current Streak | SFA won two
SFA Points (Avg.) | 655 (81.9)
Incarnate Word Points (Avg.) | 528 (66.0)
Keller vs. Incarnate Word | 2-1 (.667)
At William R. Johnson Coliseum | 2-0 (1.000)
At McDermott Convocation Center | 0-1 (.000)
Keller vs. Burmeister | 2-1 (.667)
Burmeister vs. SFA | 1-7 (.125)
SFA all-time on 2/17 | 16-5 (.762)
SCOUTING INCARNATE WORD | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• Both of the Cardinals' leading scorers average fewer than 15 points per game headed into a game where UIW hopes to put an end to a 15-game losing streak in 2017-18 and a 14-game losing streak against Southland Conference adversaries. Charles Brown III leads UIW with a scoring average of 14.1 while Shawn Johnson is averaging 11.4 points per game. Brown has put in at least 10 points in 11 of the Cardinals' last 12 games, helping the Cardinals' scoring offense rank ninth in the league by averaging 71.4 points per game.
• A little over half of the Cardinals' points come off of either layups, dunks, tip-ins or mid-range jumpers. Incarnate Word gets 51.8-percent of its points from two-pointers, 23.4-percent of its points from the free throw line and 24.8-percent from three-point land. This season, the Cardinals are shooting .336 from three-point range and average 5.9 long-range buckets per game which puts them at 10th in the Southland in both categories.
• Five of Incarnate Word's first eight games of the 2017-18 campaign resulted in wins for the Cardinals, but after a 77-73 win over UMKC on Dec. 16, UIW has lost 15 straight games. That's the nation's fourth-longest active losing streak and with 14-straight Southland setbacks the Cardinals are also in the midst of the land's fifth-longest active in-conference losing streak.
• There are not very many teams across NCAA Division I men's basketball that are better at blocking shots than Incarnate Word. The Cardinals rank second in the Southland Conference and 24th nationally with an average of 5.1 blocks per game. Leading the way in that category is Shawn Johnson (1.57 per game, 94th nationally).
• No team in the Southland Conference possesses a more accurate touch at the free throw line than Incarnate Word. The Cardinals shoot at a collective rate of 72.9-percent from the foul stripe while is also the 113th-highest percentage in all of NCAA Division I men's basketball.
• The Cardinals are one of four Southland Conference teams who ranks in the bottom 12 nationally in terms of turnover percentage on offense. According to college basketball analytics specialist Ken Pomeroy, Incarnate Word turns the ball over on 23.3-percent of its possessions, ranking it 344th out of 351 NCAA Division I basketball teams in that category.
LAST TIME OUT
• A Valentine Day battle in Corpus Christi, Texas, went the way of the 'Jacks as they avenged their 2017 Southland Conference Tournament semifinal loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi by defeating the Islanders 87-68 inside the American Bank Center Wednesday night.
• Once again, Shannon Bogues led the way for the 'Jacks. In SFA's third-straight triumpg, the Killeen, Texas product enjoyed another near-flawless shooting night, going 9-of-11 from the field and 4-of-6 from long range en route to a game-high 32 points.
• Thanks to that high-scoring outing, Bogues became the first SFA player to pour in 30 or more points in back-to-back games since Thomas Walkup did so in the 2015-16 season. Over SFA's last two games, Bogues has scored 36.4-percent of the 'Jacks points, or 67 of 184.
• Just under one-third of Bogues' points in the 'Jacks' romp over the Islanders came at the foul line. The junior established new career highs in both free throws made and free thro' 'ws attempted by going 10-of-12 at the stripe.
• Bogues' 10 free throw makes helped the 'Jacks finish 30-of-41 as a team at the foul line. Those 30 free throws made and 41 free throws attempted are the most by SFA this season.
• Joining Bogues in double figures were TJ Holyfield and Kevon Harris who joined up and scored SFA's first 15 points of the second half to put things away. Harris finished with 16 while Holyfield added 14. Those two also grabbed 15 of SFA's 35 reboounds in the victory.
• John Comeaux finished as the team's assist leader, passing out five of the 'Jacks 19 assists. That tied a career-high for the Beaumont, Texas product.
• One of the reasons why the 'Jacks were able to win was that they greatly limited the production of the Islanders' Joe Kilgore. Coming into the game with the third-highest scoring average in the Southland Conference (17.2 points per game), Kilgore finished with only nine on 3-of-10 shooting.
• In a fine all-around performance, senior Ty Charles heard his name called as a member of the starting five for just the third time this season and provided a number of hustle plays that helped the 'Jacks to victory. The Kennedale, Texas, product did not hit a field goal, but went 5-of-6 at the foul line to go along with six rebounds, four assists, two blocked shots and a steal.
• With his one steal, Charles upped his career total to 123, which is the seventh-highest career mark in SFA's NCAA Division I history.
• Absent from the game was senior Ivan Canete who rolled his ankle in practice just before the 'Jacks departed Nacogdoches. Wednesday's game was the first one Canete has missed due to injury since he joined up with SFA prior to the start of the 2016-17 season.
• Entering the game, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi boasted the second-best scoring defense in the Southland Conference, allowing opponents to average just 68.9 points per game. SFA, however, exploited that defense and became only the second Southland Conference team this season to exceed 80 points against the Islanders.
• The 'Jacks' win came despite the fact that they did not enjoy a particularly efficient start from the field. SFA didn't put in its first field goal until 14:40 remaing in the first half, making that stretch of 5:20 without a field goal the team's longest to start a game this season.
• With the win, SFA maintained its status as the nation's most dominant team in conference play since 2012-13. Since that season the 'Jacks have gone 91-12 in Southland Conference play, good for a nation-leading win percentage of .883 in that span. The only team in the land that is close to having the same in-confernece winning percentage as SFA in that span is Wichita State who has gone 90-13 (.874) in league games since 2012-13.
• Below is a full breakdown of where Stephen F. Austin's points came from in its road win at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi:
Two-pointers | 34.5% (30-87)
Three-pointers | 31.0% (27-87)
Free throws | 34.5% (30-87)
Points in the paint | 32.2% (28-87)
Points off turnovers | 21.8% (19-87)
Second chance points | 11.5% (10-87)
Fast break points | 6.9% (6-87)
Starters points | 48.3% (42-87)
Bench Points | 51.7% (45-87)
29 & 30 TO 1,000
• Exactly 28 Stephen F. Austin men's basketball players have netted at least 1,000 points in their careers and with just a few more buckets senior Ty Charles and junior TJ Holyfield will be joining that club as well.
• Charles needs 29 more points to make it to 1,000 while Holyfield requires nine more to arrive at that benchmark. By getting there, the duo will also enter a highly exclusive club of players who have accumulated 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in their careers.
• Currently that group has only 12 members in it including the likes of Thomas Walkup, Jacob Parker, Pete Harris and George Johnson.
COMING UP NEXT
• Never again in the month of February will the 'Jacks leave Nacogdoches and their home venue of William R. Johnson Coliseum. SFA's three-game homestand to close out the year's second month begins Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. when it hosts high-scoring Central Arkansas.
-SFA-
