Stephen F. Austin
Tulsa
Jacks Storm into Tulsa as NIT Run Commences
3/16/2026 6:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball
SFA eyes fourth national postseason victory all-time, first since famed VCU victory in '16 NCAA Tournament
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Stephen F. Austin begins its run in the 88th NIT on Tuesday night in the Sooner State as the Jacks meet Tulsa for the fourth time all-time and for the first time since December of 2016 at the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu. It will be the first national postseason appearance for the Jacks since the 2022 CBI and it marks the fourth trip in program history to the National Invitation Tournament. Tip-off in the opening round is set for 8:05 p.m. with live coverage links, including the ESPNU broadcast of the action, available at www.SFAjacks.com.
• LAST TIME OUT:
--- The Jacks fell short of the Southland Conference Tournament title and the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
• AN SFA WIN ON TUESDAY:
--- would give the Jacks the program's first national postseason victory since a 70-56 win over #8 (3) West Virginia in the opening round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
--- would give the Jacks the program's first win in the NIT since 1987 when SFA beat James Madison 70-63 in the opening round.
--- would be win No. 29 this season; tied for the third-most wins in a single season
--- would give SFA a third win over Tulsa and move the all-time series record to 3-1
--- would give the Jacks the program's fourth win all-time in the national postseason
• REGULAR SEASON SUPREMACY:
--- SFA's regular season title is the first for the program since a three-way finish at the top of the 2021-22 WAC standings.
--- It is the first regular season SLC title for the Jacks since a 19-1 finish in the 2019-20 season.
--- It is the sixth SLC regular season title for the Jacks after SFA won the season championship in 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014 and 2020.
• SOUTHLAND HISTORY:
--- The Jacks became the first league school to win 20 conference games in a single season which is also a program record for conference victories in a single campaign.
--- SFA and McNeese both finished the regular season with 25+ victories marking the first time in league history that two teams reached that wins mark in the same season.
• INSIDE THE STREAK:
--- The Jacks' 13-game winning streak was the longest by the program since 2019-20 and it was tied for the 11th longest in SLC history.
--- It was also the program's longest SLC winning streak since '19-20 and the eighth-longest league streak in SLC history.
--- SFA won its first 15 games of its home schedule for the first time since the 2017-18 season.
• THE BEST IN THE 'LAND:
--- A trio of SFA standouts and the architect of the Jacks' impressive run to Lake Charles earned superlative recognition from the league.
--- Senior point guard Keon Thompson was named the league's Player of the Year
--- Senior center Jerald Colonel earned Defensive Player of the Year honors
--- First-year Jack and SLC newcomer Lateef Patrick received Newcomer of the Year plaudits
--- First-year head coach Matt Braeuer was named the SLC Coach of the Year.
--- Thompson and Patrick were named first-team all-league performers, while Colonel headlined the all-defensive selections.
• GOOD COMPANY:
--- Keon Thompson enters national postseason play 14 points shy of overtaking SFA legend Thomas Walkup's single season scoring record of 613 points.
--- Thompson is just the second SFA player to reach 600 points in a single season.
• ALL-TOURNEY THOMPSON:
--- Thompson averaged 21 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals to earn All-Tournament honors.
• EYEING THE GOLDEN HURRICANE:
--- The Golden Hurricane enter at 26-7 overall with half of those victories coming in American Conference action. Tulsa bowed out in the semifinal round of the American Conference tourney.
--- Tulsa won 13 of its 15 games at home and has won three-straight games inside Reynolds Center.
--- The Golden Hurricane have twice won the NIT: in 1981 under Nolan Richardson and twenty years later under Buzz Peterson.
--- Entering the national postseason play, Tulsa sits atop the American in seven statistical categories: effective FG% (.566), FG% (47.7%), FT% (78.1%), scoring margin (+12.6), 3PT% (38.8%), 3PT/Game (10.6) and winning percentage (78.8%).
--- Tulsa's 3pt percentage ranks 13th nationally, while the squad's scoring margin and scoring offense (85.6 ppg) rates 15th.
--- David Green owns the second-highest FG% in the American at 50.1%. Green paces the Golden Hurricane with 16.1 ppg.
--- Miles Barnstable highlights the effort from beyond-the-arc ranking 25th nationally in 3PT% at 41.8% behind 89 made threes and 2.7 per game.
--- Tylen Riley ranks in the top 10 in the American in assists (143), assists per game (4.3) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.63).
• WE PLAYED THEM TOO:
--- SFA and Tulsa share an opponent.
--- The Jacks earned Matt Braeuer his first career road win with an 81-69 victory over Rice on November 11.
--- A conference opponent, Tulsa matched up with the Owls twice.
--- The Golden Hurricane blitzed Rice 97-48 on New Year's Eve at home and then picked up a six-point win in Houston.
• HAYMON'S FOUR-POINT PLAY:
--- Before his collegiate coaching career began, current Tulsa assistant Desmond Haymon etched his name into the lore of Lumberjack men's basketball.
--- Haymon (2010-2014) closed out the final seconds of SFA's 2014 NCAA Tournament game against VCU by converting a four-point play; hammering a three-pointer with five seconds left in regulation and then knocking down the and-1 free throw following a timeout to tie the contest at 67.
--- Haymon finished with 17 points that night as the Jacks overcame a five-point deficit with 32 seconds left in regulation and then outscored VCU 10-8 in overtime to earn the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament victory.
--- In four seasons in Nacogdoches, Haymon scored 1,159 points on 42% shooting, grabbed 439 rebounds, delivered 191 assists and picked up 85 steals. SFA won 97 games during Haymon's career.
• THREE FAAALLLIN':
--- In 33 games, the Jacks have nailed 292 three-point shots which surpasses the previous program record of 269 threes which the 2015-16 team did in 34 games.
--- The Jacks have notched five games this season with 13+ makes from beyond-the-arc.
--- Against Southeastern (1/31), SFA hammered 16 three pointers in a game for the second time this season and for the first time against a Division I opponent. The effort matched its season-high output of 16 against Dallas which was the most by the Jacks since hitting 16 against Houston Baptist in 2015 (2/28).
--- It is the first time in the new millennium that SFA has made 16+ threes twice in the same season.
--- SFA enters Tuesday's matchup having bucketed a three-pointer in 55 straight games.
--- Chotikavanic (82) is only the fourth Lumberjack to bucket 80 three-pointers in a campaign. Burton (74 made 3s) and Patrick (70 made 3s) have hit three or more trifectas in a game a combined 23 times this season.
--- This year's Jacks are the first SFA squad in program history with three players having bucketed 50+ three-point attempts.
• PERIMETER ACTIVITY:
--- The Jacks are clamped on the defensive perimeter. SFA rates inside the top 15 nationally in 3pt% defense at 30%.
--- Through 33 games, opponents have attempted 20+ three-points shots against the Jacks 24 times and have made eight or more on only six occasions.
• UNCHARTED WATERS: SFA's efforts in taking UIW to the deep end beyond-the-arc (1/12) resulted in just the third time this season that a team failed to make a three against a DI foe. Per CBB Reference and most notably spread by @trillydonovan on X, it's the 10th time SFA has held a team without a three-point make since the 2007 season - tied with Princeton for the most by any team in that span.
• A HELPING HAND:
--- The Jacks have recorded double-digit assists in 27 of 33 games and have committed 10 or fewer turnovers 24 times and in three-straight games to close out the regular season.
--- SFA's assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.49 leads the SLC and is a top 55 mark nationally.
--- SFA protects possessions as good as any team in the country with an SLC-leading effort of 9.2 turnovers per game: a top 12 mark in Division I basketball.
• WINDEX WARRIORS:
--- Matt Braeuer's year one squad has developed into the best glass-cleaning unit in the SLC.
--- In the regular season, the Jacks led the league in rebounds per game (38.10) and rebound margin (+5.3) and ranked second in offensive rebounds (12.90) and defensive rebounds (25.19).
--- The Jacks have grabbed 40+ rebounds in a game a 13 times with 50+ against a pair of non-D1 foes.
• ALL ABOUT POINTS:
--- The Jacks enter Tuesday's contest with the league's best scoring defense holding opponents to 65.9 ppg which rates 16th nationally.
--- SFA's scoring margin sits at +10.4, the second-highest in the SLC and the 34th largest nationally, behind the league's second-best scoring offense at 76.4 ppg which currently stands as the highest scoring average for the program since 2020-21.
• INSIDER TRENDING:
--- SFA begins their NIT run ranked No. 12 nationally in the latest mid-major top 25
--- SFA received votes for the first seven weeks of the 2025-26 season
--- Debuted at No. 23 nationally in the January 12 rankings of the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll
--- Twice this season, on February 23 and March 9, the Jacks received a pair of votes in the AP Top 25.
• SAWMILL SUCCESSES: The Jacks closed out regular season play inside the William R. Johnson Coliseum at 15-1 which included winning their first 15 games. That streak is the longest in Nacogdoches since the 2017-18 season when the Jacks also won their first 15 games before finishing 16-1 at home.
