Stephen F. Austin
#2 Nicholls
SFA Continue Southland Tourney Run Friday Night Against Nicholls in Semifinals
3/9/2018 4:51:00 AM | Men's Basketball
'Jacks and Colonels meet in the Southland Conference Tournament for first time since 1995
Game Thirty-Three
No. 3 Stephen F. Austin (26-6) vs. No. 2 Nicholls (21-10)
Friday, March 9 | 7:30 p.m. | Leonard E. Merrell Center (7,200) | Katy, Texas
Live Stats | Watch (ESPN3/ESPN app) | Listen (Q107.7/TuneIn) | SFA Notes | Nicholls Notes
OPENING TIPS
• Two of the three remaining 20-win teams that are in contention for the Southland Conference Tournament trophy are set to do battle at the league's postseason tourney for the first time in almost a quarter-century when third-seeded Stephen F. Austin crosses paths with second-seeded and Southland Conference regular season co-champion Nicholls at 7:30 p.m. Friday night.
• Stationed on the sidelines of the Leonard E. Merrell Center to provide play-by-play and analysis of the second Lumberjacks/Colonels postseason fracas are David Saltzman and Jim Haller whose narration of the action can be heard nationwide on ESPN3 and the ESPN app.
• Seated just a few spaces down from Saltzman and Haller is venerable SFA play-by-play man Rob Meyers who will deliver description and analysis worldwide on Learfield's Lumberjack Sports Network (Q107.7 FM in Nacogdoches, around the globe on the TuneIn app.
• SFA earned the right to move on to the semifinal round of the Southland Conference Tournament by dispatching seventh-seeded Central Arkansas 86-64 Thursday night in the second quarterfinal bout.
• With the victory, SFA upped its win total in 2017-18 to 26 - tied for the eighth-most wins in a single season in the history of the program.
• The year was 1995 for the first - and up until Friday night the only - meeting between the 'Jacks and Colonels in the Southland Conference Tournament. That year, Nicholls secured the number-one overall seed for the league's postseason tourney which was then held in Shreveport, La. In that showdown, which was also a semifinal battle, fourth-seeded SFA fell to Nicholls 91-89.
• There are just two Southland Conference foes that SFA is riding winning streaks of 10 or more games against - Houston Baptist and Nicholls. Following a 70-63 setback to the Colonels back on Jan. 16, 2010, in Thibodaux, La., SFA has reeled off 10 consecutive victories over Nicholls. The 'Jacks average margin of victory during that stretch stands at 16.6 points.
• By scoring nine more points, SFA junior Shannon Bogues will become just the ninth player in the 'Jacks' NCAA Division I history to amass 500 or more points in a single season. Some names on that list include Thomas Walkup and current SFA assistant coach Desmond Haymon.
SCOUTING NICHOLLS | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• The most potent offense in the Southland Conference belongs to the Colonels who come to Katy having won eight of their last 10 games. Nicholls ranks 21st nationally with a points per game average of 83.1 and the squad's scoring margin of +7.8 is second only to SFA in the 13-team Southland Conference.
• At this point, it will come down to a game-time decision to see if the Colonels' second-leading scorer (15.8 ppg) will hit the floor against the 'Jacks, but one man who is sure to play is 2017-18 Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year Roddy Peters. A senior out of Washington, D.C., Peters leads the team with a scoring average of 19.5 per game. The high-scoring guard also leads Nicholls in assists per game (4.3).
• Senior guard Lafayette Rutledge like to do one thing above all else on the basketball court - launch the three-pointer. Nicholls' final-year man ranks second in the Southland in three-point field goal attempts (222), three-pointers per game (2.94) and three-point field goal percentage (.410).
• Since the year 2000 - or the entirety of the millennium - the Colonals have defeated the Lumberjacks in the state of Texas just two times. Nicholls won in Nacogdoches on on Feb. 3, 2000 (74-56) and made it back-to-back wins on Dec. 28, 2000 with a 58-55 victory. Since then SFA has won 11-straight against the Colonels in the Lone Star State.
• Much like SFA, Nicholls has relied on a harassing form of defense in order to get the job done. The Colonels ranks among the top four nationally in terms of turnovers forced per game (fourth, 17.29), steals per game (third, 9.5) and total steals (296). Individually, Jahvaughn Powell leads the Southland and ranks 11th nationally with 72 total steals.
• For all the wins the Colonels have piled up this season, they have also piled up the personal fouls. Nicholls ranks 346th out of 351 NCAA Division I men's basketball teams in terms of personal fouls per game and as a team the Colonels average 22 per 40 minutes.
LAST TIME OUT
• Matched up against the 2018 Southland Conference Player of the Year in Central Arkansas' Jordan Howard, the 'Jacks made sure to keep an eye on the high-scoring senior at all times and as a result the Bears' offense struggled to get going which helped the 'Jacks to an 86-64 victory over seventh-seeded Central Arkansas in the quarterfinal round of the tournament Thursday night in the Merrell Center.
• Sophomore Kevon Harris delivered a double-double consisting of 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Seven of Harris' 11 board were of the offensive variety and that total matched the Bears' team offensive rebounding sum for the game.
• For the second-straight game, senior Leon Gilmore III hauled in double-digit rebounds as well. Playing near his home city, the Houston, Texas, product ripped down 10 boards and helped the 'Jacks collect a season-high 45 rebounds over their foes from Arkansas.
• Once the final horn sounded, SFA had limited the Bears to just 24 rebounds while grabbing 45 of their own. That works out to a rebounding margin of +21 for the game which was the largest by the 'Jacks in a single game since posting a +21 differential in a Southland Conference home win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Jan. 11, 2017.
• Kevon Harris drilled a pair of three-pointers and junior TJ Holyfield went 2-of-2 from downtown to the 'Jacks jump out to an early 19-8 lead just past the midway point of the opening half. For the game, Holyfield finished with 16 which was his biggest offensive outing since putting in 14 during a home loss against Lamar.
• Defensively, SFA threw everything it had at Howard and as a result the senior, who came in averaging 25.8 points per game, was limited to just 10 and did not score in the second half. That point total was Howard's lowest in over a calendar year and also marked the first time since 2015 that the high-scoring guard didn't score.
• Senior Ivan Canete put in a game-high 17 points in the 'Jacks' third sonsecutive Southland Conference Tournament quarterfinal win
• Below is a full breakdown of where Stephen F. Austin's points came from in its Southland Conference Tournament quarterfinal triumph over Central Arkansas:
Two-pointers | 48.8% (42-86)
Three-pointers | 31.4% (27-86)
Free throws | 19.8% (17-86)
Points in the paint | 27.9% (24-86)
Points off turnovers | 25.6% (22-86)
Second chance points | 25.6% (22-86)
Fast break points | 11.6% (10-86)
Starters points | 73.3% (63-86)
Bench Points | 26.7% (23-86)
COMING UP NEXT
• If the 'Jacks get by the Colonels, they will move on to the finals of the Southland Conference Tournament for the fifth time in the past six seasons. Waiting for them there will be either Southeastern Louisiana or Sam Houston State for Saturday night's 8:00 p.m. tip off.
-SFA-
