Stephen F. Austin
Sam Houston State
'Jacks Prepare for Saturday Night Clash at League-Leading Sam Houston State
2/1/2019 4:58:00 PM | Men's Basketball
SFA takes aim at fourth-straight Southland victory
Game Twenty
SFA (11-8, 4-3 Southland) at Sam Houston State (13-8, 8-0 Southland)
Saturday, Feb. 2 | 7:00 p.m. | Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum (6,100) | Huntsville, Texas
Tickets | Watch (ESPN3/ESPN app) | Listen (Q107.7/TuneIn) | Live Stats | SFA Game Notes | SHSU Game Notes
THE OPENING TIP
• Armed with a three-game Southland Conference winning streak, the SFA men's basketball team travels south to Huntsville, Texas, to reignite its nearly century-old rivalry with Piney Woods adversary Sam Houston State. The 'Jacks and Bearkats will duke it out inside Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum at 7:00 p.m. Saturday night.
• The latest clash between the two rivals will be streamed nationwide on ESPN3 and the ESPN app with Tom Franklin providing play-by-play and analysis. Over the airwaves on the Learfield/IMG College Lumberjack Sports Network, Rob Meyers will have the call on Q107.7 FM and the TuneIn app.
• The 'Jacks have already accomplished one major team milestone this season by winning the program's 1,500th game, but they sit on the cusp of another ahead of Saturday's showdown with the Bearkats. SFA needs just one more Southland Conference win to record its 300th in the history of the program.
• With a win over the Bearkats on Saturday, SFA would post its second-longest Southland Conference winning streak in the Kyle Keller coaching era. On two occasions last season, the 'Jacks emerged as the victors in five consecutive Southland showdowns.
• Kevon Harris (16.7 ppg) has been shooting exceptionally well from three-point land in Southland Conference action. The junior has gone 15-of-33 (.455) from downtown through his seven Southland games in 2018-19. For his career, Harris has connected on 112 three-pointers - the 10th-most by any Lumberjack ever.
• Only one current active member of SFA's roster - Shannon Bogues - is averaging over 5.5 points per game against Sam Houston State in his career. The Killeen, Texas, product has averaged 22 points in two meetings with the Bearkats on a shooting split of .560/.500/1.000.
TWO OUT OF THREE AIN'T BAD
• It's no secret that Shannon Bogues and Kevon Harris have been quite the one-two punch for the 'Jacks thus far in 2018-19. That duo represents two of the top three scorers in the Southland Conference as Bogues' average of 17.4 points per game is the second-highest in the league while Harris' clip of 16.7 represents the league's third-highest average.
• With Bogues and Harris on their side, SFA is one of just six NCAA Division I men's basketball teams from around the nation who possess two of the top three scorers in their respective conferences.
• The other programs on that list are CSU Northridge out of the Big West (Lamine Diane and Terrell Gomez), second-ranked Duke from the ACC (R.J. Barrett and Zion Williamson), the MEAC's Howard (RJ Cole and Charles Williams), Indiana State from the MVC (Jordan Barnes and Tyreke Hill) and Summit League favorite South Dakota State (Mike Daum and David Jenkins).
THE KE TO SUCCESS
• There is only one player in the Southland Conference who is averaging over 20 points per game in league action so far this season. That's SFA junior Kevon Harris.
• In his seven Southland Conference games this season, Harris has gone for 24 or more points on four occasions and has twice sprung for 30 or more points.
• Two of the junior's three 30+ point games in his collegiate career have come in Southland Conference action. Currently, he's one of just three players at an NCAA Division I program in the state of Texas averaging more than 20 points per game in league tilts. UTSA's Jhavian Jackson and Keaton Wallace are the only two other players who fall into that category.
SFA vs. SAM HOUSTON STATE | THE SERIES
Overall vs. Sam Houston State | 110-91 (.547)
In Nacogdoches, Texas | 73-21 (.777)
At William R. Johnson Coliseum | 33-11 (.750)
In Huntsville, Texas | 33-68 (.327)
At Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum | 14-29 (.326)
At neutral sites | 3-3 (.500)
Last meeting | SFA 65, SHSU 53 | March 3, 2018
Last SFA win | SFA 65, SHSU 53 | March 3, 2018
Last SFA home win | January 27, 2018 | 82-66
Last SFA road win | March 3, 2018 | 65-53
Last SHSU win | February 2, 2017 | 72-63
Last SHSU home win | February 2, 2017 | 72-63
Last SHSU road win | March 2, 2011 | 55-40
Largest margin of victory (SFA) | 32 | 85-53 on Mar. 3, 2004
Largest margin of defeat (SFA) | 21 | 77-56 on Feb. 24, 1948
Current Streak | SFA won three
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 | 12,209 | 60.7
SHSU points | average | 11,676 | 58.1
Average scoring margin | +2.6
Keller vs. Sam Houston State | 3-1 (.750)
At William R. Johnson Coliseum | 2-0 (1.000)
At Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum | 1-1 (.500)
Keller vs. Hooten | 3-1 (.750)
Hooten vs. SFA | 3-17 (.150)
SFA all-time on Feb. 2 | 15-4 (.789)
SCOUTING SAM HOUSTON STATE | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• For the first time since the 2008-09 campaign, the Bearkats have won their first eight Southland Conference games of the year. That run is part of a nine-game winning streak that dates back to Monday, Dec. 31, when Sam Houston State bested Texas Lutheran 84-54 in its regular season non-conference finale. Five of the squad's eight league wins have come by 10 or more points.
• Taking care of the basketball has been of the utmost importance to the Bearkats so far in 2018-19. Sam Houston State has committed the fewest turnovers in the Southland (256) and ranks 50th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.27) and 78th in the land in turnovers per game (12.2). The Bearkats' turnover margin of +4.0 is the 14th-highest in the nation and the second-highest in the Southland.
• No Sam Houston State player ranks among the top 20 scorers in the Southland, but that hasn't mattered as the Bearkats have opted to use a balanced attack to get the job done. Six players average at least 7.0 points per game while three are putting in at least 10.0 per outing. Cameron Delaney (11.7 ppg) and Kai Mitchell (11.4 ppg) are the Bearkats' top two scorers while Josh Delaney ranks third at 10.0 ppg.
• Since the 2014-15 season, the Bearkats' home floor inside Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum has given them a decided advantage in Southland Conference action. Sam Houston State is 34-6 (.850) in Southland games in that span. Half of those six losses in that span have been handed to the Bearkats by SFA.
• Now in his ninth season in charge at Sam Houston State, head coach Jason Hooten has a career record of 3-17 (.150) against SFA. Hooten has one win each against the 'Jacks at home, on the road and at a neutral site.
LAST TIME OUT
• Buoyed by a pair of strong performances by Davonte Fitzgerald and Kevon Harris, the 'Jacks won their third-straight Southland Conference game by posting a 105-99 overtime triumph over Central Arkansas Wednesday night inside William R. Johnson Coliseum.
• SFA improved to 1-1 in overtime clashes in the 2018-19 season and in the Kyle Keller coaching era the 'Jacks are now 3-1 in overtime games. In Southland Conference overtime games, Keller is 3-0 as SFA's bench boss.
• Wednesday night marked the 'Jacks' first overtime showdown in Southland Conference action since Feb. 25, 2017 at - you guessed it, baby - Central Arkansas. SFA also won that one, 90-85.
• Kevon Harris reset his career highs in a pair of statistical categories: points and rebounds. The junior out of Ellenwood, Ga., pumped in a game-best 33 points and added a game and SFA season-high 16 rebounds to push the home team to its third-straight victory over the Bears.
• Harris' 33-point, 16-rebound double-double is the first 30+ point 15+ rebound double-double in SFA's NCAA era which dates back to the 1982-83 season. He's also the first Lumberjack to haul down more than 15 rebounds in a game since TJ Holyfield amassed 16 in a 72-67 home setback to Northwestern State on March 2, 2017.
• By turning in 33 points, Harris upped his career point total to 1,077. That stands as the 27th-highest scoring total in program history and Harris needs to rack up just six more points to move past Richard Dorsey for 25th place on the 'Jacks' all-time scoring list.
• Fitzgerald scored the 'Jacks' first 10 points of the game and wound up finishing with 29 points. He finished one point shy of producing his second 30+ point outing in an SFA uniform but did manage to match his career-best by lacing five three-pointers. His last long ball came with 2:00 left in overtime and gave the 'Jacks the lead for good.
• Fitzgerald's go-ahead three-pointer in the overtime session came off of John Comeaux's fifth and final assist of the night. Those five assists were a team-high and helped the Beaumont, Texas, product match his career high in helpers.
• Junior Nathan Bain tied his career-high in scoring by putting in 10 points. The Freeport, Bahamas, product scored the first six points of the second half for the 'Jacks.
• SFA finished +12 (42-30) over Central Arkansas in points in the paint. Those 42 points down low were the second-highest total in a Southland Conference game for the 'Jacks this season.
• The 'Jacks went 24-of-33 (.727) at the free throw stripe compared to a 23-of-35 (.657) showing by Central Arkansas. Both the 'Jacks' total number of free throws made and free throws attempted were season-highs.
• SFA upped its lead in the all-time series against Central Arkansas to 19-1 (.950) with Wednesday night's win. Central Arkansas is 0-10 all-time in Nacogdoches.
• SFA's 105 points represented the team's most in a Southland Conference game since scoring 109 on January 13, 2015 against - yes - Central Arkansas.
COMING UP NEXT
• To conclude its brief two-game road swing, SFA once again heads south - this time to Houston, Texas - for a Wednesday night Southland Conference skirmish at Houston Baptist. Tip-off between the 'Jacks and Huskies has been set for 7:00 p.m. inside Sharp Gymnasium.
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