SFA, 14th-Ranked Texas Tech Wage War in Opening Round of NCAA Tournament

Thursday, March 15

Dallas, Texas

6:27 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

#3 Texas Tech

Tickets

SFA, 14th-Ranked Texas Tech Wage War in Opening Round of NCAA Tournament

3/14/2018 7:23:00 AM | Men's Basketball

'Jacks seventh NCAA Tournament game takes place in Dallas

By: Charlie Hurley | Director of Athletic Media Relations

OPENING TIPS
• Back on the nation's biggest stage - a platform they have stood atop with more regularity than any other current team in the the Southland Conference - the 14th-seeded Stephen F. Austin men's basketball team makes its fifth appearance in the NCAA Tournament Thursday night at the American Airlines Center when the 'Jacks do battle with third-seeded and no. 14-ranked Texas Tech in an East region, opening round number of the big dance.
• truTV is set to broadcast every second of the action in the first postseason meeting between the Lumberjacks and Red Raiders with Spero Dedes, Steve Smith and Len Elmore handling play-by-play and analysis responsibilities. That trio's call will also narrate the first meeting in almost seven years between the two Texas programs.
• As he has done for each of the 'Jacks' last six NCAA Tournament tilts, longtime voice of the Lumberjacks Rob Meyers will be courtside to call the action on Learfield's Lumberjack Sports Network (Q107.7 FM in Nacogdoches, nationwide via the TuneIn app).
• Thursday night's game marks the seventh NCAA Tournament game in SFA's history and is the only first-round game of the 2018 field that pits programs from the same state against one another.
• SFA enters the NCAA Tournament fray as a 14-seed for the second-straight time and the third time in the program's five appearances. As a 14-seed, the 'Jacks have posted a 1-2 (.333) record in NCAA Tournament games with their lone win coming over Big 12 adversary West Virginia by a 70-56 tally on March 18, 2016.
• SFA is 1-0 in NCAA Tournament games against foes from two leagues - the A-10 (VCU) and the Big 12 (West Virginia).
• In possession of the nation's fifth-highest season win total as well as the nation's 18th-longest active winning streak, SFA's 28 wins this season are tied for the fifth-most wins in a single season in the history of the program. Second-year head coach Kyle Keller joins Brad Underwood (twice) and Marshall Brown (twice) as the only SFA coaches to win 28 or more games in a single season.
• With their 28 wins this season, SFA is one of nine DI men's basketball programs who have 25 or more wins in five or more of the last six seaons. SFA joins Arizona, Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Michigan State, VCU, Villanova and Wichita State on that list.

SFA vs. TEXAS TECH | SERIES HISTORY
Games | 13
All-Time Series | Texas Tech leads 8-5 (.615)
In Nacogdoches, Texas | 3-2 (.789)
At William R. Johnson Coliseum | 0-2 (.000)
In Lubbock, Texas | 1-6 (.143)
At United Supermarkets Arena | 0-5 (.000)
Last Win | at Texas Tech 74, SFA 75 (12/5/98)
Last Home Win | at SFA 36, Texas Tech 28 (12/14/39)
Last Road Win | at Texas Tech 74, SFA 75 (12/5/98)
Last Loss | at Texas Tech 66, SFA 54 (11/20/11)
Last Home Loss | at SFA 61, Texas Tech 63 (11/24/09)
Last Road Loss | at Texas Tech 66, SFA 54 (11/20/11)
Largest Margin of Victory | 12, at SFA 48, Texas Tech 36 (1937-38)
Largest Margin of Defeat | 26, at Texas Tech 83, SFA 57 (12/30/97)
Current Streak | Texas Tech won seven
SFA Points (Avg.) | 683 (52.5)
Texas Tech Points (Avg.) | 764 (58.8)
Keller vs. Texas Tech | 0-0 (.000)
At William R. Johnson Coliseum | 0-0 (.000)
At United Supermarkets Arena | 0-0 (.000)
Keller vs. Beard | 0-0 (.000)
Beard vs. SFA | 0-0 (.000)
SFA all-time on 3/15 | 5-1 (.833)

SCOUTING TEXAS TECH | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• Head coach Chris Beard has brought roundball fever back to Lubbock by crafting one of the nation's best defenses. Texas Tech ranks 17th nationally in scoring defense, letting opponents put in just 64.7 points per game. Not many programs in the nation have bettered the Red Raiders' opponent field goal percentage either which stands at .403 - the 14th-best in the land.
• One of the nation's most prolific free throw shooting squads, Texas Tech has received 21.1-percent of its offensive from the foul line in 2017-18. The Red Raiders lead the Big 12 in both free throw attempts (749) as well as free throws made (525) - numbers that are among the top 50 in the nation, too. Many of those tries and makes have come from Keenan Evans who has gone 169-of-209 from that distance this season. Evans ranks second in the Big 12 in both free throw attempts and free throws made, too.
• Speaking of Evans, the senior out of Richardson, Texas, leads Texas Tech in both scoring (17.5 ppg) and assists (3.2 per game). One of the nation's premier guards, Evans is in the running for a trio of high-profile award including the Bob Cousy Award, the John R. Wooden award and the Citizen Naismith triphy. The first Texas Tech to be named an All-Big 12 First Team selection since 2007, Evans ranks third in the Big 12 in scoring.
• Recruited by SFA among numerous others before choosing Texas Tech, Zhaire Smith collected spots on the Big 12 All-Defensive Team, the Big 12 All-Newcomer Team and was an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention during a highly successful first season in Lubbock. Smith's 11.2 points rank third on the team and he leads the Red Raiders in blocked shots (1.2/game).
• Not since the 1995-96 campaign - some 22 years ago - have the Red Raiders won 28 or more games. That's thanks to head coach Chris Beard who was named the Big 12's Co-Coach of the Year along with Kansas' Bill Self. Beard's club hasn't dipped below the top 15 in the AP poll in the last eight weeks, either.
• The connection between SFA head coach Kyle Keller and Texas Tech coach Chris Bears extends back to 1996 when the two were coaching in San Antonio. That season, Keller was an assistant at UTSA while Beard was a graduate assistant under former SFA head man Danny Kaspar at Incarnate Word. Both are in their second year at their respective institutions and both won 18 games their first season before winning 23 or more games this season.

TEXAS CONNECTIONS
• 1 | For the first time in their NCAA Tournament history, the 'Jacks will be doing battle with an in-state opponent when they take on Texas Tech in the opening round. Previously, SFA had faced foes from the states of New York (Syracuse), Virginia (VCU), California (UCLA), Utah (Utah), West Virginia (West Virginia) and Indiana (Notre Dame) in the big dance.
• 20+ | The friendship between SFA head coach Kyle Keller and Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard goes back some 20 years to when they were both working in San Antonio. At the time, Keller was an assistant at UTSA while Beard was a graduate assistant for Danny Kaspar at Incarnate Word. Kaspar would go on to become the head coach at SFA for 13 seasons.
• VB | One of the connections between SFA and Texas Tech comes in the sport of volleyball. Current SFA head volleyball coach Debbie Humphreys completed her 30th season in charge of the Ladyjacks' in 2017, leading her team to its ninth Southland Conference regular season crown in program history. Humphreys, who is one of only 15 active NCAA Division I head volleyball coaches with 600 or more wins, graduated from Texas Tech in 1986 and was a three-year letterwinner for the Red Raiders' volleyball squad.
• 7 | Thursday night's NCAA Tournament first round showdown between the 'Jacks and Red Raiders will be the first meeting between the two clubs since 2011. It's been almost 20 years since the 'Jacks defeated the Red Raiders with SFA's most recent win in the series coming on Dec. 5, 1998 in Lubbock, Texas, via a 75-74 tally. Since then, Texas Tech has won the last seven games between the two schools.

SO YOU'RE TELLING ME THERE'S A CHANCE?
• Not a smart man by any stretch of the imagination (something audiences may have realized after glimpsing the title of the movie his character was made famous in), Lloyd Christmas uttered these words while trying to woo Mary Swanson in the 1994 motion picture Dumb and Dumber. For lower seeds since the start of the NCAA Tournament, however, the line is more of a motto, and when it comes to 14-seed over three-seed upsets, the 'Jacks know first hand that there's definitely a chance.
• There have been 21 14-seeds that have upset a number-three seed in the history of the NCAA Tournament and as of late Big 12 institutions have been especially susceptible to this upset. The last three 14-over-3 upsets have been spring against Big 12 programs including the most recent one which occurred on March 18, 2016, when Thomas Walkup led SFA to a 70-56 victory over West Virginia at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. A full list of 14-over-3 upsets - which has happened 15.9% percent of the time in the NCAA Tournament through the years - is located below.
14-seed vs. 3-seed upsets
SFA def. West Virginia 70-56 | 2016
Georgia State def. Baylor 57-56 | 2015
UAB def. Iowa State 60-59 | 2015
Mercer def. Duke 78-71 | 2014
Harvard def. New Mexico 68-62 | 2013
Ohio def. Georgetown 97-83 | 2010
Northwestern State def. Iowa 64-63 | 2006
Bucknell def. Kansas 64-63 | 2005
Weber State def. UNC 76-74 | 1999
Richmond def. South Carolina 62-61 | 1998
Chattanooga def. Georgia 73-70 | 1997
Old Dominion def. Villanova 89-81 (3OT) | 1995
Weber State def. Michigan State 79-72 | 1995
East Tennessee State def. Arizona 87-80 | 1992
Xavier def. Nebraska 89-84 | 1991
Northern Iowa def. Missouri 74-71 | 1990
Siena def. Stanford 80-78 | 1989
Murray State def. NC State 78-75 | 1988
Austin Peay def. Illinois 68-67 | 1987
Cleveland State def. Indiana 83-79 | 1986
Little Rock def. Notre Dame 90-83 | 1986
• History is also on the side of SFA when it heads into battle against the Red Raiders on Thursday night in the Big D. The 'Jacks have never lost a neutral-site game against a Big 12 adversary and are 4-0 in such games.

DEFENSE
• 99.5 | On Ken Pomeroy's adjusted defensive efficiency - which tabulates points allowed per 100 possessions - the 'Jacks rank 69th out of 351 NCAA Division I men's basketball teams with a mark of 99.5. You'd have to go down to 170th place to find the next closest Southland Conference squad (Nicholls, 105.3).
• 68.1 | No team in the Southland Conference does a better job at preventing its opponent from putting the ball in the basket than SFA does. The 'Jacks' scoring defense allows just 68.1 points per game to the opposition - the lowest per-game average in the 13-team lead. That puts the 'Jacks' scoring defense at 69th nationally.
• +4.4 | SFA's turnover margin in 2017-18 which ranks fourth in the nation. Opponents of the 'Jacks are throwing the ball away 19.97 times times per game - meaning the 'Jacks' force more opponent turnovers per game than any program in the nation.
• 28% | Of the 2,759 points scored by the 'Jacks in 2017-18, almost one third - or 28-percent of them - have come directly off of opponent turnovers. The 19.97 turnovers forced per game lead to an average of 22.7 points per game by the Lumberjacks.
• 10.3 | Thievery of the basketball is another way the 'Jacks fluster their opponents as SFA averaged 10.3 steals per game. That's the best average in the nation and SFA's 350 steals this season are a nation-best as well as a single-season program best.
• 58.8 | Over the last five games, SFA has taken its defense to a higher level and is letting up just 58.8 points per game to the opposition. No team has exceeded 66 points during that five-game stretch.
• 9 | In nine of the 'Jacks 34 games this season, SFA has forced a higher number of turnovers than their opponents' final made field goal total.
Date | Opponent | FGs/TOs
11/15 | St. Edward's | 23/26
11/18 | Howard Payne | 19/38
11/26 | Florida A&M | 18/26
11/28 | North Dakota State | 18/28
12/9 | Rice | 17/27
12/28 | at Southeastern Louisiana | 19/22
1/3 | Nicholls | 21/23
1/17 | at Abilene Christian | 19/22
2/28 | Abilene Christian | 22/23

WINS
• 100 | On the night of March 3, senior Ty Charles became the fifth player in the history of SFA men's basketball to reach 100 wins in his career. He hit the milestone with the 'Jacks' 65-53 win at rival Sam Houston State and joins Dallas Cameron, Jacob Parker, Trey Pinkney and Thomas Walkup as the ony player to have 100 or more career wins in an SFA uniformm.
• 95.6 | Since the start of the 2012-13 season, there isn't an NCAA Division I men's basketball team in the land that possesses a higher home court winning percentage than the one SFA has. The 'Jacks are 87-4 inside William R. Johnson Coliseum in that span, good for a nation-leading home court win percentage of 95.6
• 95 | There is not a team in the nation that can claim to be as dominant in conference play since 2012-13 than SFA. Since that season the 'Jacks have gone 95-13 in Southland Conference play, good for a nation-leading win percentage of .880 in that span. Sitting just behind SFA in that category is Wichita State who has gone 94-14 (.870) while playing in the American Athletic Conference and the Missouri Valley Conference in that same span.

FOLLOW THE LEADERS
• SFA leads the Southland Conference in 12 separate statistical categories including field goal percentage (48.8-percent, 21st nationally), field goal percentage defense (42.7, 98th nationally), free throw attempts (791, 16th nationally), free throws made (558, 19th nationally), rebounding margin (+3.9, 56th nationally), scoring margin (+13.0, ninth nationally), steals per game (10.3, first nationally), three-point field goal percentage (37.2-percent, 72nd nationally), total steals (350, first nationally), turnover margin (+4.4, fourth nationally), turnovers forced per game (19.97, first nationally) and win percentage (82.4, 16th nationally).

HIGH FIVE
• The 59-55 triumph for SFA over top-seeded and Southland Conference regular sesason co-champion Southeastern Louisiana last Saturday night at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas, handed the 'Jacks' their fifth Southland Conference Tournament title in program history.
• SFA is now 5-4 in league tournament title games while SFA head coach Kyle Keller is 4-1 (.800) in Southland Conference Tournament games. Those four wins in the league's postseason tournament are the third-most by an SFA head coach in program history.

STEAL THE SHOW
• Five 'Jacks - Aaron Augustin, Shannon Bogues, Ivan Canete, John Comeaux and TJ Holyfield - have each racked up 40 or more steals this season and have helped SFA lead the nation in steals per game and total steals.
• No other program in the nation boasts five players with 40 or more steals and the only other DI program that boasts four players with 40+ steals is fellow Southland institution Nicholls. Three other programs - Georgia State, Purdue and Kansas State - have three players who have accumulated 40 or more steals this season.
• Senior Ty Charles may not have reached the 40-steal bench mark just yet, but he ranks seventh in program history with 132 total steals for his career. Charles is one of only four player in program history who have scored 1,000 or more points, grabbed 500 or more rebounds and totaled 100 or more steals and he joins Josh Alexander, Jacob Parker and Thomas Walkup in that exclusive group.

RECORD BOOK RUN
• The 2017-18 edition of the 'Jacks - as well as the players who make up the team - have a good chance to rewrite a number of single-season and career program records by the time the season comes to a close.
• Junior TJ Holyfield became the program's all-time leader in blocked shots by swatting away a Southland Conference Tournament record eight shots in SFA's league tournament semifinal win over Nicholls. He has 134 for his career and his career rebounding total of 591 is the fifth-highest in SFA's NCAA Division I history.
• Senior Ty Charles sits in seventh place on the 'Jacks' all-time steals chart with 132 of them. He needs 13 more to move up to sixth place and in terms of rebounding his 576 career boards represents the sixth-most in a career in SFA's DI history.
• With at least one more game to play in 2017-18, SFA's point total of 2,759 is the highest in the program's NCAA Division I history. The team's 982 total field goal makes are also the most in a single season in its DI history while the 2,012 field goal attempts are the second-most in a single season.
• Currently, the 'Jacks' 2017-18 field goal percentage of .488 is the third-best in the program's NCAA Division I history.
• SFA's 237 three-pointers are the fifth-most in a single season and mark just the sixth time in program history that the 'Jacks have hit 200 or more triples in a season.
• At the free throw line, the 'Jacks have drilled 558, or the third-most in a single season in their DI history. The team's 791 attempts are the third-most in a single season in their DI history, too.
• Defensively, SFA's 351 steals are the most in a single season in program history. On average, the 'Jacks get 10.3 steals per game this season, just a shade below the 10.7 the 1996-97 team averaged to set a single-season record.

LAST TIME OUT
• Propelled onward by the play of junior forward TJ Holyfield, who went on to become the fourth SFA player in the past five seasons to claim the title of Southland Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player, the 'Jacks won their fifth Southland Conference Tournament by edging out top-seeded and regular season co-champion Southeastern Louisiana at the Leonard E. Merrell Center in Katy, Texas, last Saturday night.
• Holyfield turned in his second double-double in as many night, finishing with a team-high 13 points as well as a game and season-high 12 rebounds for the 'Jacks who were forced to make a comeback over the final 5:45 of the game after surrendering a 14-point second-half lead.
• Trailing by six points with 5:45 left after Joshua Filmore capped a 22-2 run by Southeastern Louisiana with a three-pointer, the 'Jacks went on a 16-6 run to deny the Lions their first Southland Conference Tournament title since 2005. Holyfield started that surge with a tip-in before Kevon Harris and John Comeaux provided layups that tied the game at 49-all.
• With 3:21 left in the game, Harris accepted a pass from senior Ty Charles and canned a corner three-pointer that put the 'Jacks ahead the rest of the way. For the game, Harris finished with nine points, two rebounds and two of the 'Jacks' seven three-pointers.
• After missing a free throw with 42 seconds to go, Ivan Canete corralled the offensive rebound and drained a put-back layup that gave the 'Jacks a crucial four-point cushion.
• The 'Jacks' lone four-year senior, Charles was eager to make his third NCAA Tournament with a win and it was his two free throws with 20 seconds left that ensured SFA would return to the big dance for the fourth time in the last five seasons.
• In addition to Holyfield's inclusion on the All-Tournament Team, junior Shannon Bogues joined his classmate after averaging 14.3 points per game through the 'Jacks' three-game run to the tournament title. With seven points in the 'Jacks' win over the Lions, Bogues increased in 2017-18 point total to 525 - the fifth-highest single-season total in the 'Jacks' NCAA Division I history. So far, Bogues has put in 197 field goals which is the fifth-highest single season total in SFA's DI history.
• During their run to the tournament title, SFA took out four of the five 2017-18 major award winners in the Southland Conference. They started in the quarterfinal round by dispatching Central Arkansas which was led by Southland Conference Player of the Year and the nation's third-leading scorer in Jordan Howard before ending the season of Southland Conference Coach of the Year Richie Riley and Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year Roddy Peters in a win over Nicholls in the semifinal round. Finally, in the tournament title game, the 'Jacks knocked Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year Marlain Veal out of the running for an NCAA Tournament bid when they defeated Southeastern Louisiana.
• SFA is the only team in the NCAA Tournament that picked off its league's player, defensive player, newcomer and coach of the year award winner en route to a conference tournament title.
• Below is a full breakdown of where Stephen F. Austin's points came from in its Southland Conference Tournament championship triumph over Southeastern Louisiana.
Two-pointers | 57.6% (34-59)
Three-pointers | 35.6% (21-59)
Free throws | 6.8% (4-59)
Points in the paint | 50.8% (30-59)
Points off turnovers | 25.4% (15-59)
Second chance points | 27.1% (16-59)
Fast break points | 6.8% (4-59)
Starters points | 79.7% (47-59)
Bench Points | 21.3% (12-59)

YOU'RE A WINNER
• Only five NCAA Division I men's basketball teams in the nation have more wins than the 'Jacks at this point.
• SFA's 28 wins are at least three more than any other Southland Conference team so far this season.
• With SFA's win over Sam Houston State on Saturday, March 3, senior Ty Charles won the 100th game of his collegiate career, joining former Lumberjack greats Dallas Cameron, Jacob Parker, Trey Pinkney and Thomas Walkup as the only winners of 100 or more games in program history.

THE .500 MARK
• Lots of NCAA Division I men's basketball teams around the nation boast four players who are averaging greater than nine points per game, but not many of them have a trio like SFA does.
• Three of SFA's top four scorers - Shannon Bogues (15.4 ppg), TJ Holyfield (13.0 ppg) and Leon Gilmore III (9.3 ppg) are hitting at least 50-percent of their shots from the field.
• Both Holyfield (fourth, .549) and Gilmore III (10th, .518) are among the top 15 players in the Southland Conference in terms of field goal percentage while Bogues (.509) ranks 15th.

POMEROY'S POINTS
• Noted basketball analytics guru Ken Pomeroy is known far and wide as one of the foremost authorities of NCAA Division I men's basketball and when taking a look at his numbers it's abundantly clear that the 'Jacks possess one of the finest defenses in the nation.
• The 'Jacks' turnover percentage - or the percentage of opponent possessions which result in a turnover - sits at a nation-leading mark of 26.2. The team's steal percentage - or the percentage of opponent possessions which end with a steal by SFA - stands at 13.0. That's second only to Fordham in all of NCAA Division I men's basketball.
• SFA's defensive efficiency rating of 99.5 ranks 69th nationally and the 'Jacks get 39-percent of their minutes from their bench - the 27th-most nationally.
• Opponents of SFA, however, are getting 26.1-percent of their points from free throws. That's the second-highest percentage in all of NCAA Division I men's basketball.
• The 'Jacks' tempo is ranked as the 47th-fastest in the nation according to Pomeroy.

TWO OF A KIND
• Few NCAA Division I college basketball team in America possesses an advantage quite as unique as the one SFA does. Two 'Jacks rank among the top three in the Southland Conference in terms of three-point field goal percentage.
• Sophomore Kevon Harris ranks second in the league, having connected on 43.2-percent (57-of-132) of his long range tries while senior Ivan Canete, has hit 41.7-percent (48-of-115) of his downtown baskets. That's the third-highest percentage in the league and makes SFA one of just two teams in the nation who have two of their league's top three three-point threats.

IF SFA WINS
• The 'Jacks' record would improve to 29-6 and SFA would advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for just the third time in the history of the program.
• Head coach Kyle Keller would pick up his first head coaching victory in an NCAA Tournament game.
• Head coach Kyle Keller would secure his first head coaching victory over a Big 12 opponent.
• SFA would improve to 3-4 all-time in NCAA Tournament games.
• SFA would improve to 2-0 all-time against Big 12 foes in NCAA Tournament games.
• SFA would win its second-straight opening round game as a 14-seed over a three-seed.

IF SFA LOSES
• It would drop the 'Jacks' record to 28-7 and end the 2017-18 season.
• It would drop the team's all-time record in NCAA Tournament games to 2-5.
• Head coach Kyle Keller would fall to 0-1 all-time in NCAA Tournament games.
• The careers of three SFA seniors - Ivan Canete, Ty Charles and Leon Gilmore III would come to an end.

COMING UP NEXT
• If SFA emerges as the victor, they would move on to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and await the winner of Florida and St. Bonaventure. That game would be played on Saturday, March 17 at a time to be determined at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

-SFA-