Stephen F. Austin
Central Arkansas
'Jacks Hope to Continue Southland Winning Streak Wednesday against Central Arkansas
1/29/2019 5:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball
SFA holds 18-1 all-time record against Central Arkansas
Game Nineteen
SFA (10-8, 3-3 Southland) vs. Central Arkansas (10-11, 5-3 Southland)
Wednesday, Jan. 30 | 6:30 p.m. | William R. Johnson Coliseum (7,203) | Nacogdoches, Texas
Tickets | Watch (ESPN+/ESPN app) | Listen (Q107.7/TuneIn) | Live Stats | SFA Game Notes | UCA Game Notes
Play-by-play/Analysis | Rob Meyers
THE OPENING TIP
• With its sights set on its first three-game Southland Conference winning streak of 2018-19, the SFA men's basketball closes its seven-game slate in the month of January by hosting Central Arkansas at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday night inside William R. Johnson Coliseum. Woodland Hills Golf Club serves as the gameday sponsor for the 20th all-time meeting between the 'Jacks and Bears.
• ESPN+ and the ESPN app are set to stream the action with veteran Lumberjack play-by-play man Rob Meyers providing narration of the showdown. Meyers' call can also be heard on the Learfield/IMG College sports network which is available in Nacogdoches on Q107.7 FM and nationwide via the TuneIn app.
• As of this writing, SFA sits in seventh place in the Southland Conference standings. With 12 more regular season league games remaining, the 'Jacks are 3.5 games back of Sam Houston State for the top spot on the league charts.
• Since Southland play started, the 'Jacks' defense has gotten stronger and stronger with each passing game. After forcing a season-high 26 turnovers in its improbable come-from-behind victory over Abilene Christian last Wednesday night, SFA ranks 19th nationally in turnovers forced per game (17.00).
• Already a member of SFA's 1,000-point club, junior Kevon Harris is well on his way toward gaining entrance into the program's 500-rebound club. The Ellenwood, Ga., product needs just 81 more board to get to an even 500 in his career.
• Senior guard Shannon Bogues is on milestone watch, too. The Killeen, Texas, product needs just 149 more points to reach 1,000 for his career. Should he get there, he would be one of the fastest Lumberjacks to reach 1,000 career points, needing less than two seasons to do so. In SFA's NCAA Division I history, Nathan Randle was the player who reached the 1,000-point plateau the fastest, needing just 54 games to do so across the 1991-92 and 1992-93 seasons.
THE CLOSER THE BETTER
• Now in his third season in charge of SFA, head coach Kyle Keller has done a fine job pushing the right buttons in close games.
• Through his tenure, the 'Jacks are 17-8 (.680) in games decided by five points or less. At home, Keller and SFA are 8-3 (.727) in games decided by five points or less.
DYNAMIC DUOS
• Throughout the course of 2018-19 thus far, there are few duos in both the Southland and the nation that can match what Shannon Bogues and Kevon Harris have done while on the court together.
• Together they average 33.1 points per game, which works out to 48.1-percent of the 'Jacks' per-game scoring average of 68.8 points.
• Currently Bogues leads the team and ranks second in the Southland in scoring at a clip of 17.3 points per game. Harris, meanwhile, is second on the team and fifth among all Southland players with his scoring average of 15.8 points per game.
• With both Bogues and Harris among the top five scoring leaders in the Southland, that makes SFA one of 12 NCAA Division I men's basketball teams from around the nation who boast two of their respective league's top five scorers.
• Other schools on that list include Alabama A&M (SWAC), Cal State Fullerton (Big West), CSU Northridge (Big West), College of Charleston (CAA), Duke (ACC), Howard (MEAC), Illinois State (MVC), Indiana State (MVC), Lipscomb (Atlantic Sun), Nevada (Mountain West), Oakland (Horizon League), South Dakota State (Summit League), Tennessee (SEC) and UTSA (Conference USA).
THE SERIES | SFA vs. CENTRAL ARKANSAS
Overall vs. Central Arkansas | 18-1 (.947)
In Nacogdoches, Texas | 9-0 (1.000)
At William R. Johnson Coliseum | 9-0 (1.000)
In Conway, Ark. | 8-1 (.888)
At Farris Center | 8-1 (.888)
At neutral sites | 1-0 (1.000)
Last meeting | SFA 86, UCA 64 | March, 8, 2018
Last SFA win | March, 8, 2018 | 86-64
Last SFA home win | February 21, 2018 | 97-62
Last SFA road win | January 25, 2017 | 90-85 (OT)
Last UCA win | January 24, 2018 | 100-92
Last UCA home win | January 24, 2018 | 100-92
Last UCA road win | none
Largest margin of victory (SFA) | 51 | 109-58 on Jan. 13, 2015
Largest margin of defeat (SFA) | 8 | 100-92 on Jan. 24, 2018
Current Streak | SFA won two
Last five games | 4-1 (.800)
Last five home games | 5-0 (1.000)
Last five away games | 4-1 (.800)
Last 10 games | 9-1 (.900)
Last 10 home games | 10-0 (1.000)
Last 10 away games | 9-1 (.900)
SFA points | average | 1,447 | 76.2
UCA points | average | 1,132 | 59.6
Average scoring margin | +16.6
Keller vs. Central Arkansas | 4-1 (.800)
At William R. Johnson Coliseum | 2-0 (1.000)
At Farris Center | 1-1 (.500)
Keller vs. Pennell | 4-1 (.800)
Pennell vs. SFA | 1-7 (.125)
SFA all-time on Jan. 30 | 13-7 (.650)
SCOUTING CENTRAL ARKANSAS | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• Now in his fifth season in charge of the Bears, head coach Russ Pennell has directed Central Arkansas to back-to-back seasons of double-digit victories. The Bears won a Division I-era record 18 games one season ago and have 10 wins under their belts so far in 2018-19. It marks the first time since 2008-09 and 2009-10 that the program has posted 10 or more victories in consecutive campaigns.
• Possessing a diverse offensive attack, four Central Arkansas players are averaging at least 10.4 points per game. That group is led by sophomore center Hayden Koval (12.4 ppg) and sophomore guard DeAndre Jones (12.4 ppg) and each bring another element to the table besides just their point production.
• Jones, the Bears' point guard, currently leads the Southland in both total assists (100) and assists per game (4.8). On the national scene, his 100 assists are the 67th-most of any NCAA Division I men's basketball player and the sophomore has also played a Southland-leading 696:47 so far in 2018-19.
• A Southland Conference All-Defense Team choice one season ago, the seven-foot Koval has maintained his reputation as a fine low post defender midway through his second collegiate campaign. Koval leads the Southland and ranks 39th nationally with 2.00 blocked shots per game and his 42 total rejections are the most in the Southland and the 35th-most in all of NCAA Division I men's basketball.
• All four of the Bears' leading scorers possess a strong outside shooting touch. Jones has connected on a team-best 41.6-percent of his tries from three-point land but Eddy Kayouloud (10.7 ppg), Koval and Thatch Unruh (10.4 ppg) are all shooting at least 34.5-percent from distance.
LAST TIME OUT
• Improbable was perhaps the best way to describe what happened last week inside William R. Johnson Coliseum when the SFA men's basketball team erased a seven-point deficit with 27 seconds left to earn a 61-60 comeback win over Abilene Christian.
• Shannon Bogues pumped in 20 points - including the last five for the 'Jacks - and it was the senior's three-pointer with 3.6 seconds remaining that finished off the Wildcats and provided one of the most thrilling finishes ever witnessed inside William R. Johnson Coliseum.
• Junior Kevon Harris led the way by putting in game-high 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting. With those 24 points, Harris upped his career point total to 1,044 and is now tied for 29th all-time on SFA's list of top 30 scorers.
• With Bogues and Harris both going for 20 or more points, it marks the second time this season that two SFA players have scored 20 or more in a single game. SFA is 1-1 when two players score 20 or more this season and in head coach Kyle Keller's tenure the 'Jacks are 5-1 (.833) when two players go for 20 or more in the same game.
• Davonte Fitzgerald contributed his second double-double of the year, springing for 13 points and 10 rebounds. Both of the double-doubles in Fitzgerald's collegiate career have happened while the Atlanta, Ga., product was sporting an SFA uniform.
• SFA's comeback started when Fitzgerald split a pair of free throws with 27 seconds left. From there, junior guard John Comeaux intercepted a long pass at midcourt which was his fourth steal of the night. That theft tied Comeaux's career high and he found Harris who threw down a two-handed dunk to keep SFA's hopes alive.
• ACU's Payten Ricks then dribbled the ball off of his foot during the Wildcats' ensuing possession. Bogues scored on a layup to cut ACU's lead to 60-58.
• After Ricks misfired on the front end of a one-and-one, Bogues pulled up from the far wing with 3.6 seconds left and hit the home team's game-winning three-pointer. It's Bogues' third go-ahead shot with less than 15 seconds remaining in regulation this season.
• Harris went 3-for-5 from long distance in SFA's comeback win, giving him 108 three-pointers in his collegiate career thus far. The Ellenwood, Ga., product needs to connect on two more to enter the 'Jacks' list of top ten three-point field goal producers. Eric Rhodes - who connected on 110 three-pointers in his SFA tenure and is now the director of security for the National Basketball Player's Association - ranks 10th in SFA's program history in career three-pointers made.
• Last Wednesday night's win marked the fifth time this season that SFA has come back to win after trailing at the half.
• It has now been almost 40 years since Abilene Christian last walked out of William R. Johnson Coliseum with a win. The Wildcats' last win over the 'Jacks in that facility came on January 10, 1981.
• The showdown between the 'Jacks and Wildcats was SFA's lone game during the NABC's Suits & Sneakers week. From Jan. 20-27, all NCAA Division I men's basketball coaches around the nation will be trading in their dress shoes for sneakers on the sidelines to raise awareness and help save lives by raising funds and encouraging people to educate themselves about cancer prevention, screening, and early detection.
• Keller is now 4-1 (.800) in his head coaching tenure during games played in Suits & Sneakers week.
COMING UP NEXT
• Two of the Southland's oldest rivals are set to clash on the hardwood once against this Saturday night when SFA heads south to Huntsville, Texas, for a premier showdown at league-leading Sam Houston State. ESPN3 and the ESPN app will carry each and every second of the 'Jacks/Bearkats duel which tips off at 7:00 p.m.
-SFA-
