'Jacks and Cardinals Clash Saturday Afternoon in the Alamo City

Saturday, January 19

San Antonio, Texas

3:30 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

Incarnate Word

Photo by: SFA Athletics

'Jacks and Cardinals Clash Saturday Afternoon in the Alamo City

1/18/2019 2:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball

SFA seeks to put an end to a three-game Southland skid

By: Charlie Hurley | Director of Athletic Media Relations

THE OPENING TIP
• Looking to put an end to a three-game Southland Conference winless skid, the SFA men's basketball team heads south to the Alamo City for a Saturday afternoon showdown at Incarnate Word. Tip-off inside the McDermontt Convocation Center is set for 3:30 p.m. and the tilt will be streamed nationwide on ESPN3 and the ESPN app with David Saltzman and Van Chancellor proving play-by-play and analysis.
• Longtime voice of the Lumberjacks Rob Meyers has also made the journey to San Antonio and will provide narrative of the ninth meeting between the 'Jacks and Cardinals on Q107.7 FM in Nacogdoches and around the globe via the TuneIn app.
• It's likely Saturday will be the day that junior Kevon Harris enters SFA's 1,000-point club. The Ellenwood, Ga., product needs to score just five more points to become the 31st player in program history to amass 1,000 or more points in a career. Harris ranks second on the team in scoring (15.2 points per game) and is one of just three players in the Southland to rank among the top ten in both scoring and rebounding.
• Harris and high-scoring senior Shannon Bogues have continued to serve as the 'Jacks' go-to scorers through the first four games of league action. In Southland games, Bogues ranks third in the league in scoring (17.0 ppg) while Harris is fourth (16.5 ppg).
• Dating back to last season, Bogues has put in at least 10 points in 17-straight games. That's tied for the longest stretch of double-digit scoring games since Thomas Walkup pumped in 10 or more in 17 consecutive tilts during a stretch that spanned the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.
• Wednesday at New Orleans, Harris turned in his third double-double outing of 2018-19. The junior sprung for 13 points and added a game-high 10 rebounds. Harris has three of the 'Jacks' five double-doubles this season (60-percent) and is up to eight his his collegiate career. Of the 28 double-doubles posted by SFA players since Harris' first season (2016-17), he has been responsible for eight of them (28.6-percent).

CONFERENCE CALL
• Over the past six-plus seasons, only one NCAA Division I men's basketball team owns a better in-conference record - or more in-conference wins - than the 'Jacks.
• Since the start of the 2012-13 campaign, SFA has posted a 96-16 record in Southland Conference games for an impressive .860 winning percentage. Those 96 wins and .860 winning percentage are tied with Wichita State for the second-best in both categories through that span. Only Gonzaga (101-9, .918) has been better in conference play than SFA in that span.
• Of the 'Jacks' 16 league losses over the last six seasons, only four of them have come by 10 or more points.

LAST TIME OUT
• SFA got off to a blistering hot start and owned a 17-4 lead over New Orleans through the first 11:30 of Wednesday night's Southland matchup, but the Privateers erased the 'Jacks' 13-point lead and claimed a 68-61 win inside Lakefront Arena.
• Shannon Bogues put in a game-high 20 points for the 'Jacks in their third-straight Southland Conference loss. Bogues' 20-point outing was his fifth 20+ point effort or 2018-19 and the 12th of his SFA career.
• Junior Kevon Harris added a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double and helped the 'Jacks own the glass against New Orleans. Those 10 rebounds from Harris were a game-high and represented just about one-quarter of SFA's 42 on the night. Those 42 rebounds were a season-high for SFA who finished with a +12 margin on the glass over the Privateers.
• Junior guard John Comeaux also added 12 for the 'Jacks in his fifth game back in action. Those 12 points from the Beaumont, Texas, product represented a large portion of SFA's 14 from its bench players Wednesday night.
• Comeaux connected on a game-tying three-pointer with 2:53 to go. With the score knotted at 61-all, New Orleans ended the game on a 7-0 run to claim the victory. After Comeaux's three-pointer, SFA went 0-for-7 from the field and committed a turnover through that final stretch.
• Graduate student forward Davonte Fitzgerald was a strong defensive presence for the 'Jacks Wednesday night. The Atlanta, Ga., product matched his career-best by totaling a trio of blocked shots against the Privateers. In all, Fitzgerald went for five points, seven rebounds, three blocked shots, two assists and a pair of steals in 27 minutes of action.
• Making his third start of the season, junior Samuli Nieminen turned in three points and three rebounds. His three-pointer with 4:05 to go knotted things at 58-all and helped the 'Jacks stay well within striking distance.
• SFA's turned in its best free throw shooting performance in a Southland game this season Wednesday night, too. The 'Jacks hit 76.5-percent (13-of-17) of their foul shots which stands as the team's best free throw percentage in a league game thus far in 2018-19.
• The loss pushed the 'Jacks' Southland record to 1-3 and made it three-straight Southland Conference setbacks for SFA for the first time since the 2006-07 season.
• New Orleans got a big boost from its bench in Wednesday night's game. The Privateers finished with a +12 (26-14) margin in bench scoring over the 'Jacks and were also +10 (21-11) in points scored off of turnovers.
• SFA's 22 turnovers were the second-highest total in a game this season and the team's most in a Southland Conference game since committing 25 in a 102-82 home victory over Houston Baptist on Jan. 31, 2018.

SCOUTING INCARNATE WORD | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• Led predominantly by a group of freshmen - as well as first-year head coach Carson Cunningham - Incarnate Word is one win shy of matching its total from the 2017-18 campaign. The Cardinals are 6-11 which included a 5-3 showing inside its home facility. Like SFA, Incarnate Word also traveled to a foreign country to take part in regular season action. The Cardinals went 1-2 at The Islands of the Bahamas Showcase in mid-November.
• No team in the nation is better from the free throw line than Incarnate Word thus far in 2018-19. The Cardinals lead all of NCAA Division I men's basketball with a free throw percentage of 80.9 and have committed just 299 fouls - the second-fewest in the Southland up to this point.
• First-year man Morgan Taylor leads the Cardinals in scoring at a clip of 11.3 points per game, but in Southland Conference action the upperclassmen have been the go-to point producers so far. Senior Charles Brown III is putting in 12.8 points per game in league tilts while junior Augustine Ene is second at a clip of 12.3 per game.
• In terms of assists, Taylor leads the way there as well. The freshman's three helpers per game are the most among the Cardinals' ranks. As a team, Incarnate Word averages 10.1 assists per game which is last in the Southland and 343rd nationally.
• Antoine Smith, Jr., has been helping the Cardinals get better on the board in Southland Conference action. His 6.8 rebounds per game in league tilts leads the team and overall his average of 4.7 in 2018-19 is the best on Incarnate Word's roster. As a team, the Cardinals rank last in the Southland and last among all NCAA Division I men's basketball teams in rebounding, grabbing just 28.3 per game.

COMING UP NEXT
• Following a two-game road swing, SFA returns to William R. Johnson Coliseum for the remainder of January. The first of the 'Jacks' two games in that span comes Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m. when Abilene Christian makes the trip to Nacogdoches. ESPN+ and the ESPN app will carry each and every minute of the game.

-SFA-