Stephen F. Austin

Jan. 2, 2013

Game Notes In PDF Format

SFA (10-1, 1-0 SLC) vs Lamar (2-10, 0-0 SLC)
Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013 • 8:00 p.m. (CT)
William R. Johnson Coliseum (7,203) • Nacogdoches, Texas
Radio: Q107.7 FM • TV: Comcast Sports Net Houston • Live Stats: www.SFAJacks.com

STORY LINES
• Stephen F. Austin will be looking to stay hot and start off 2013 with a win on Thursday when it hosts reigning SLC Tournament champion Lamar at William R. Johnson Coliseum. The game will be televised on Comcast Sportsnet Houston with Tom Dore providing the play-by-play and Perry Clark on color commentary. 

The Last Meeting

SFA	44
Lamar	55

March 8, 2012
Katy, Texas

`Jacks Eliminated By Lamar In SLC Tournament The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks were hampered by a second-half scoring drought and despite holding Lamar to under 60 points for the fifth time all season were eliminated in a 55-44 loss to the Cardinals on Thursday in the semifinals of the Southland Conference Tournament at the Leonard E. Merrell Center.

Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery

• SFA is currently enjoying its best start since the 2007-08 season, a year in which it won its first Southland Conference title. SFA enters Thursday with the top RPI in the SLC and as the only one-loss team in the Southland.

THE LAST TIME OUT
• The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks got their second straight double-double from Taylor Smith and led wire-to-wire in taking a 67-56 win at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at the American Bank Center on Saturday in the conference opener for both teams. SFA (10-1, 1-0 SLC) won its fifth straight game and took its sixth win in its last seven meetings with the Islanders (1-9, 0-1 SLC). The `Jacks opened up league play by holding their 43rd consecutive opponent to less than 70 points and its seventh of the year under 60. Smith finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds, his third double-double of the year as the `Jacks outscored the Islanders 38-22 on points in the paint . Both of those marks were career highs for the senior, while Bateman just missed a double-double with 11 points and nine assists to go with his nine rebounds. 

UP NEXT
• SFA will get its first taste of this year's new scheduling for league play when it has just a two-day turnaround before hosting McNeese State on Saturday. The `Jacks will then face a tough weekend road swing when it travels to Central Arkansas and league-favorite Oral Roberts.

QUICK HITS
• The Lumberjacks will be looking to extend their streak of 43 consecutive games of holding opponents under 70 points. SFA went all of 2011-12 without allowing 70 points to an opponent and has done so in the first nine games of this season

• Stephen F. Austin and Wisconsin are the only two programs in the nation to be ranked in the top 10 nationally in scoring defense each of the last five seasons.

• Danny Kaspar needs just two more wins to reach 450 for his career.

• SFA played exactly 30 games in the 2012 calendar year, going 24-6 in those games.

• The Lumberjacks enter Thursday's game averaging just 49.5 points allowed per game, making them the only squad in the country not to average 50 points allowed per game.

Series Notes
SFA has won each of the last three meetings in the series in Nacogdoches, not falling to the Cardinals at Johnson Coliseum since 2006. Recently all games have been tightly contested, with just one of the last 10 games between the teams being by more than a 12-point margin. The teams split last year's two meetings with SFA winning by 10 points in Beaumont in the regular season before Lamar eliminated No. 2 SFA in the SLC Tournament semifinals, 55-44, on the way to the tournament championship itself.

SITTIN' ON 20: The `Jacks have six 20-win campaigns since becoming a Division I program in 1988. All six of those 20-win seasons have come under Danny Kaspar.

SUB-SEVENTY: SFA held each of its 32 opponents under 70 points in 2011-12, and has done the same in each of its first 10 games of 2012-13 to extend its school-record streak of sub-70 defensive performances to 42. The last team to score 70 on the `Jacks was Northwestern State, when they did so in a 70-65 win over SFA in 2010-11 in Natchitoches, La.

SMITH DOUBLES UP: Senior post Taylor Smith scored his second straight double-double with career highs of 25 points and 14 rebounds in SFA's win at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. That performance also helped him win his second consecutive Southland Conference Player of the Week honor. Currently he leads the Southland in both field-goal percentage (.664) and blocks per game (2.6 bpg), while ranking in the top five in scoring (15.7 ppg) and rebounding (8.3 rpg).

OKLHAOMA BREAKDOWN: SFA's win at Oklahoma snapped a 36-game home win streak over non-conference opponents for the Sooners. Oddly enough, the last win at the Lloyd Noble Center by a Sooner non-conference opponent was in 2007 when the `Jacks escaped Norman with a 66-62 win.

SOUTHLAND OPENERS: In Danny Kaspar's 13 seasons at SFA, the `Jacks are now 7-6 in Southland Conference openers after Saturday's 67-56 win at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Before last season's conference-opening win at Texas State, the 'Jacks had dropped three of their last four league-opening games and had lost five straight times when opening Southland play on the road. SFA is 4-5 under Kaspar in Southland openers away from home.

NAC'S FIRST LOOK AT THE SLC: Thursdsay may not be SFA's conference opener, but it will be the first conference game for the `Jacks at home this year. Recently, that has been a good thing as SFA has won its first conference game at home each of the past six years.

HOME NON-CONFERENCE: SFA has won 38 of its last 40 home, non-conference games, dating to the 2006-07 season. Each of those two losses have been by two points apiece, coming to Florida International in 2011-12 and Texas Tech in 2009-10. Now, after going 6-0 in pre-conference, the Lumberjacks are 66-5, overall, in home, non-conference games in 13 seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar.

`JACKS MOVE UP IN MID-MAJOR TOP 25: SFA got an early Christmas present on Christmas Eve, breaking into the CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Top 25 for the first time this season. The `Jacks checked in at No. 25 and after its win at TAMUCC, found itself up to No. 22 in the latest poll released on Monday. The `Jacks are the only Southland Conference school to make an appearance in the poll this year. The last time SFA was in the poll was the 2008-09 season, reaching as high as No. 11.

PARKER'S HOMECOMING: Jacob Parker had a career afternoon in SFA's win at Tulsa, scoring a career-high 16 points and pulling down four rebounds. A native of Bixby, Okla., which is just outside of Tulsa, Parker hit seven of his 10 shots from the field, including a pair of three-point buckets.

LOW-BALLED: SFA held Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to 46 points in an Islander win over in 2011 that tied for the fewest points by a Lumberjack opponent in an SFA loss over the last 13 seasons. In 13 years under Danny Kaspar, the 'Jacks have held the opposition below 50 points 59 times and lost only five times.

DEFENSE FIRST: The Lumberjacks finished third in the nation in scoring defense at 54.7 points per game allowed in 2011-12, a new school record. SFA has finished the year ranked among the top 10 in scoring defense in each of the last five seasons, including leading the nation in 2011 with 56.7 points per game and No. 2 rankings in both 2008 and 2009. This year has started off no different as SFA is leading the nation in scoring defense again, allowing just 49.5 points per game through its first 11 contests, holding eight of its opponents below 60 points. SFA is currently the only team in the country allowing less than 50 points per game.

AMONG NATION'S BEST: As a team the `Jacks are right at the top of the country in scoring defense, but the `Jacks also have a pair of individuals who are near the top of the country's statistical rankings as well. Senior Taylor Smith currently sports a .664 field goal percentage, which is sixth in the nation, while Hal Bateman's 7.2 assists per game ranks ninth in the country.

HOME DEFENSE: SFA is known for its defensive prowess, but it is even moreso evident when playing at William R. Johnson Coliseum. SFA has held its opponents to 50 points or fewer in 18 of 37 games at home in the last three seasons, allowing just 51.6 points per game at home in 2010-11 and 53.1 points per game in 2011-12. It is allowing just 45.2 points per game in six home games this season.

CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARDS: SFA did not have a single player in the Southland Conference top 10 in rebounding in 2011-12, but this year sports the league's No. 3 rebounder in Taylor Smith (8.3 rpg) and is tops in the league in rebound margin by a wide gap, pulling down 7.7 rebounds per contest more than its opponent, just one year after leading the Southland in rebound margin (+7.1 rpg). The next closest team in the Southland in rebound margin is Oral Roberts, pulling in just 3.9 more rebounds per contest than its opponent.

HAL DO YOU DO?: Senior point guard Hal Bateman dished out a career-high 11 assists in SFA's season-opening win over Howard Payne, the most for a Lumberjack since Eric Bell had 11 dimes in a road win at Northern Illinois during the 2007-08 season. Three games later he doled out another 10, making him the first `Jack since Marcus Clark in 2004-05 to have multiple games in the same season with 10+ assists. In addition, he ranks ninth in the nation and leads the Southland Conference with 7.2 assists per game. The school record at SFA is 6.3 set by Winston Harrison in 1981-82.

BLOCK PARTY: Taylor Smith averaged 1.31 blocks pe rgame in less than 20 minutes of play as a junior, but this year that number is expected to skyrocket, and through four games he has not disappointed. Smith, who was a two-time league defensive player of the year at McLennan CC before coming to SFA, has 28 blocks (2.8 bpg) in the first 10 games of the season. Only two SFA players in the Division I era have blocked more shots in a single season than Smith's 42 a year ago and only one Lumberjack has ever led the league in blocks -- Tim Holloway in 1989-90. Smith's 2.6 blocks per game currently ranks first in the league.

HALF WAY THERE: The `Jacks were not at their best when playing from behind in 2011-12, but were exceptional when playing from out in front. That was most evident by the fact that the `Jacks went 19-1 a year ago when taking a lead into the half. Conversely, SFA was 1-11 when trailing at the break. This season had followed suit with the `Jacks getting victories after taking a halftime lead into the locker room in each of its first seven wins before overcoming a four-point halftime deficit to rally and knock off Oklahoma. SFA is 9-0 this year when leading at midway point.  

SAFE AT HOME: In 12-plus seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar, the Lumberjacks have compiled a 142-35 (.798) record in the William R. Johnson Coliseum. SFA is 338-126 (.726) all-time in the Coliseum. SFA has recorded seven straight seasons and nine campaigns in last 10 years with double-digit wins at home. The `Jacks are currently 6-0 at home this season.

IT'S BEEN A WHILE: Not since the 1957-58 season had the `Jacks pulled off what they managed to pull off in its season opener vs Howard Payne. SFA held HPU to just 30 points on the night, the least amount scored by an SFA opponent since Sam Houston State put up 30 in a 40-30 loss to the `Jacks in the 1957-58 season. Against the Yellow Jackets, SFA allowed just 15 shots to fall from the floor, none from beyond the arc and HPU missed its only free throw of the game.   

KASPAR KOUNTER: Danny Kaspar picked up his 200th win at SFA in last year's season opener vs Centenary currently stands third all-time at SFA in head coaching wins with 229, trailing only Marshall Brown (345) and Bob Shelton (245). Kaspar also has 448 career wins between his time at SFA and Incarnate Word, second among active Southland Conference to Northwestern State's Mike McConathy.

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