Stephen F. Austin

Jan. 11, 2013

Game Notes In PDF Format

SFA (13-1, 4-0 SLC) at Oral Roberts (8-7, 3-0 SLC)
Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013 • 7:30 p.m. (CT)
Farris Center (10,575) • Tulsa, Okla.
Radio: Q107.7 FM • TV: Fox College Sports • Live Stats: www.ORUGoldenEagles.com

STORY LINES
• After taking care of business on the opening leg of a difficult Southland Conference road swing, the ‘Jacks will square off with league newcomer and preseason league favorite Oral Roberts on Saturday in Tulsa in a battle of the two remaining unbeaten teams in the league. This will be the first meeting between the teams as conference foes with the teams not having met since the 2002 season.

• Saturday's game will be televised on Fox College Sports and the Golden Eagle Netowrk (Direct TV Channel 363) with Bob Carpenter on play-by-play and Mickey Michalec on color analysis.

• SFA’s win at Central Arkansas gave SFA a 4-0 start in league play, marking the first time for the program to start that well vs the SLC since the 2006-07 season. The ‘Jacks 13-1 overall start also eclipsed the 2007-08 team’s 12-1 start as the best start for an SFA squad since the progam moved to Division I at the beginning of the 1987-88 season.

THE LAST TIME OUT
• SFA put five players in double figures, led by Taylor Smith’s 23 points and 12 rebounds and ran its win streak to eight in a row with a 77-69 win over Central Arkansas on Thursday at the Farris Center. Smith’s fourth double-double in his last five games highlighted SFA’s (13-1, 4-0 SLC) offensive output and helped the ‘Jacks go to 4-0 in conference play for the first time since the 2006-07 season. SFA got 42 of its points in the paint, but also hit four triples, two of which came from Jacob Parker who just missed a career high with 15 points to go along with seven rebounds. Smith and Parker were joined in double figures by Hal Bateman, who had seven assists to go along with his 13 points and hit seven of eight foul shots. 

UP NEXT
• The ‘Jacks return home for a pair of games vs Southeastern La. and Nicholls before getting a week off before a showdown at Northwestern State.

QUICK HITS
• The Lumberjacks will be looking to extend their streak of 46 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.

• SFA has taken on 11 teams from the state of Oklahoma in the Danny Kaspar era, winning each of the last 10 from Texas’ neighbor to the north. The last time SFA lost to a team from Oklahoma was a 78-57 loss to Oral Roberts in Tulsa during the 2001-02 season. SFA played exactly 30 games in the 2012 calendar year, going 24-6 in those games.

• The Lumberjacks enter Saturday's game averaging just 50.0 points allowed per game, the lowest mark in the country.

Series Notes
SFA has taken on the Golden Eagles nine times with ORU holding a 5-4 lead in the series. ORU has taken three of the last four meetings with SFA taking a 71-68 win in the team’s last meeting, back in 2002.

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 46. 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 fourth double-double in five games with 23 points and 12 rebounds in SFA’s win over Central Arkansas. Just three games prior he put up 25 points and 14 rebounds at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in a game which helped him win his second consecutive Southland Conference Player of the Week honor. Currently he leads the Southland in both field-goal percentage (.669) and blocks per game (2.5 bpg), while ranking in the top five in scoring (15.2 ppg) and rebounding (8.5 rpg). He has five double-doubles on the year, tied with McNeese State’s Desharick Guidry for tops in the Southland.

CARDINAL RULE: SFA had no issues with downing Lamar on Thursday, blasting the Cardinals by 36 points in a 79-43 win. What was more impressive was the fact that the the 36-point margin of victory was SFA’s largest margin of victory in a conference game since SFA joined the Southland Conference for the 1987-88 season.

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.

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.

DEFENDING THE ARC: A year ago after 14 games the ‘Jacks were just 7-7 and allowing opponents to hit 35.7 percent of their shots from behind the arc, a mark which was near the bottom of the SLC. This season things have been drasticsally different. In addition to sporting an 13-1 record after 14 games, SFA is second in the SLC in defending the three-point line, allowing its opponents to hit just 28.2 percent of its threes.

‘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 wins over Lamar and McNeese State last week, found itself up to No. 17 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.

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 61 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 50.0 points per game through its first 14 contests, holding nine of its opponents below 60 points.

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. As of the latest NCAA statistical report released on Jan. 7, senior Taylor Smith currently sports a .691 field goal percentage after hitting 11 of his 12 shots at UCA, which is second in the nation, while Hal Bateman’s 6.9 assists per game ranks 12th in the country.

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 (8.8 rpg) and is tops in the league in rebound margin by a wide gap, pulling down 9.0 rebounds per contest more than its opponent, just one year after leading the Southland in rebound margin (+7.1 rpg). Tonight’s matchup will beof the top rebounding teams in the SLC with Oral Roberts the next closest team in the Southland in rebound margin, pulling in just 6.1 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 in the top 10 in the nation and leads the Southland Conference with 7.0 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 32 blocks (2.6 bpg) in the first 13 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 12-0 this year when leading at midway point.  

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 231, trailing only Marshall Brown (345) and Bob Shelton (245). SFA’s win over McNeese State gave Kaspar his 450th career win between his time at SFA and Incarnate Word, second among active Southland Conference to Northwestern State’s Mike McConathy.

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