Lumberjacks To Host Texas State :: SFA looking to rebound from two-point loss at Sam Houston State

Back in the Friendly Confines: The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack basketball team will return to action Wednesday looking to bounce back from just its third loss of the season with a 7 p.m. tip against Texas State. Fortunately for the Lumberjacks, they'll be at home in the William R. Johnson Coliseum, where they are a perfect 8-0 this season. SFA enters the game with a 15-3 overall record and a 3-2 Southland Conference mark that has the 'Jacks in a tie for second in the SLC West Division. The Bobcats are 10-9 on the season and 3-3 in SLC action.

Last Game: After leading for the first 31 minutes and 35 seconds of last Thursday's showdown with rival Sam Houston State, the Lumberjacks lost their advantage for the first time with 8:25 remaining. The lead then change hands six more times down the stretch, including the final time, on a 3-pointer with 17 seconds left that gave the Bearkats a 58-56 victory. SFA took a 27-22 lead to the half, but Sam Houston outshot the Lumberjacks, 51.7 percent to 31.8 percent in the second half and outscored SFA, 36-8, in the paint to collect the win. Junior forward Josh Alexander scored a game-high 22 points on 6-of-9 shooting from 3-point range, including a red-hot 4-for-4 performance to start the game. Alexander also had six rebounds to lead the Lumberjacks. Sophomore point guard Eric Bell added eight assists. Ryan Bright scored 11 points and hauled in 18 rebounds to pace the Bearkats.

vs. Texas State: SFA leads the all-time series with the Bobcats, 92-66. The Lumberjacks are a near-perfect 9-1 in their last 10 meetings with Texas State, including six straight victories. Under head coach Danny Kaspar, the Lumberjacks are 5-1 at home against the Bobcats, the only loss being a one-point decision in 2000-01, Kaspar's first season in Nacogdoches. Overall, the Lumberjacks are 10-2 against Texas State under Kaspar. SFA won the last meeting, a 78-75 overtime victory at home last season.

The Bobcats: Texas State is coming off a road win over SLC foe Texas-San Antonio, but the Bobcats have not put together back-to-back victories in over two months. Texas State has won three of its first five Southland games, including a 2-1 record on the road in conference play and are 6-5, overall, in games played away from San Marcos, Texas.

The Coaches: SFA is led by head coach Danny Kaspar. Kaspar is in his eighth season at the helm for the Lumberjacks. He holds a record of 123-93 (.569) at SFA and has a 342-145 (.702) overall record in his 17th season as a collegiate head coach. Texas State is coached by Doug Davalos. Davalos is 19-29 (.396) in his second season with the Bobcats and 91-64 (.587) in his sixth season overall.

Up Next: SFA will return to the road for an SLC West Division clash with Texas-Arlington. The Mavericks entered this week alone in first place in the division with a 14-4 overall mark and a 4-2 record in league action. The game against UTA is set for a 4 p.m. start Saturday from Texas Hall.

News and Notes

• FAST START: SFA opened the season with a 12-1 record, the best start to a season since the program joined the NCAA Division I ranks. The fantastic start was the best 13-game mark for the program since the 1981-82 season, when the Lumberjacks opened the season with seven straight wins and went on to post a 14-1 record before finally recording their second loss of the season in the 16th game. SFA's 10-game winning streak earlier this season was the program's first double-digit run since the 'Jacks won 13 in a row during the 2002-03 season.

• RANK AND FILE: SFA fell to No. 20 in Monday's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. Last week's poll found SFA at No. 17. This is SFA's eighth straight week in the rankings after entering the poll at No. 25 on Dec. 10, following the Lumberjacks' upset win at Oklahoma. SFA then moved up in the poll each week, jumping to 22nd, 16th, then 11th, before cracking the Top 10 three weeks ago.

• VOTE OF CONFIDENCE: SFA received a vote in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll in each of the last two weeks of December. This marked the first time since the 2003-04 season for the Lumberjacks to earn a vote in a national Top 25 poll. That year, SFA earned one vote in the Associated Press poll.

• TOP GUNS: As Josh Alexander and Matt Kingsly go, so go the Lumberjacks. SFA's three losses this season have one thing in common: the Lumberjacks' top two scorers have been contained offensively, on average, in all three losing verdicts. While Alexander averages 17.4 points per game in SFA's 15 wins, along with Kingsley's 16.6 points per win, their averages dip to 14.3 and 11.3 points per game, respectively, in the Lumberjacks' three defeats. The scoring averages for SFA's next three highest scorers fluctuate less than a full point per game from wins to losses.

• D-UP: SFA's defense has been dominant this season. The Lumberjacks have held opponents to an average of 53.9 points per game, which leads the Southland Conference and is tied for tops in the nation. While good defense has long been a mark of Danny Kaspar-coached teams, the Lumberjacks have never finished higher than 12th in the national rankings in terms of scoring defense. This season, the Lumberjacks have held 12 opponents to fewer than 60 points and have only allowed one team to break 70. SFA ranks 18th in the country in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 38.4 percent shooting from the field. Perhaps most importantly, though, the Lumberjacks don't allow the opposition many second chances. SFA gives up just 30.6 rebounds per game, best in the conference.

• STINGY ON THE GLASS: The Lumberjacks give up the fewest rebounds per game in the Southland Conference. SFA is currently allowing its opponents just 30.6 rebounds per game.

• DOUBLE-UP: SFA posted just three double-doubles all of last season -- Josh Alexander had two, and Matt Kingsley recorded one. The Lumberjacks have already surpassed that mark this year with five double-doubles -- each of the first four coming from a different player. Kingsley posted the first with 22 points and 13 rebounds against Jackson State. Nick Shaw then scored 17 points and pulled down 16 rebounds against Louisiana-Monroe, and Eric Bell had 18 points with 11 assists at Northern Illinois three days later. Alexander finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds at Jackson State, then recorded his seventh career double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds at Nicholls State.

• DIAL "1" FOR ASSISTANCE: Sophomore point guard Eric Bell (jersey number 1) leads the Southland Conference in assists and ranks 20th in the nation with 6.17 assists per game. He posted a career-high 11 assists at Northern Illinois. That marked the first double-digit assist effort for a Lumberjack since Marcus Clark dished out 10 in a game during the 2005-06 season. Bell also leads the Southland and ranks 68th in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.10.

• ALEXANDER THE GREAT: Junior forward Josh Alexander has hit a hot streak that has the Shreveport, La., native on pace for a record year in 2007-08. Alexander is 27-for-58 (.466) including an 18-of-40 (.450) showing from 3-point range in the Lumberjacks' last five games. He has scored 18 or more points four times in that span, including a season-high 26 against Lamar and 22 points at Sam Houston State. Alexander has gone 19-for-21 (.905) at the free throw line during that stretch, with 18 of those foul shots falling in a consecutive streak between misses that spanned five games. Alexander broke the 1,000-point barrier with his 14th point in SFA's loss at Nicholls State, when he scored a game-high 18 points. If he continues his current scoring pace, he could rank as high as 11th on the school's all-time scoring list by the end of the season. Alexander is also just four 3-point field goals away from setting a school record for career 3-point baskets.

• ON A ROLL ON THE ROAD: SFA's recent 10-game winning streak included five straight victories in non-conference road games and a neutral-site win. This marks the first time in program history for the Lumberjacks to win five straight road games against Division I, non-conference opponents. It's the first time since the 1981-82 season for SFA to win more than three straight out-of-conference road games against any level of competition. Overall, the Lumberjacks are 7-2 in games outside of William R. Johnson Coliseum this season.

• PERFECT IN THE WRJ: The Lumberjacks are out to an 8-0 start in home games at the William R. Johnson Coliseum. The last time a Lumberjack team won more than three in a row at home to start a season was in 2003-04, when SFA went 16-0 at home as part of a 31-game home winning streak that dated to the previous season and was the longest active streak in the nation by the time it was finally broken.

• BOARDOM: SFA has outrebounded its opponent in 10 of 18 games this season, winning all but one of those contests. The Lumberjacks pulled down 41 rebounds in the win over Louisiana-Monroe, two games after the Lumberjacks' 43-board effort against Jackson State. SFA posted a season-high 49 rebounds against Huston-Tillotson, besting the Rams by 22 boards, then put up 43 rebounds against Paul Quinn and finished with 42 against Wiley. The Lumberjacks pulled down 40-plus rebounds only four times in all last season and surpassed 43 boards only twice.

• SAFE AT HOME: In seven-plus seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar, the Lumberjacks have compiled an 83-25 (.769) record in the William R. Johnson Coliseum, including an 8-0 home mark this season. SFA is 279-116 (.706) all-time in the Coliseum. The 'Jacks went 10-5 (.667) at home in 2006-07. SFA defeated UT-Tyler, 63-47, in the 2007-08 season opener. Kaspar's teams are a perfect 8-0 in home openers at SFA.

Scouting the Bobcats

• FOR THE RECORD: Texas State plays a fast-paced, up-and-down style of basketball, and that fact is reflected in the Bobcats' season results. After opening the year with back-to-back wins, followed by a loss then a three-game win streak, Texas State has failed to win consecutive games in the last two months. Since a 96-81 defeat at Texas, the Bobcats have followed each win with a loss, including a pair of back-to-back losses in early January. Texas State opened Southland Conference play with a 95-84 loss at Northwestern State but has won each of its last two SLC road games, including a 79-73 win at Texas-San Antonio Saturday.

• LAST GAME: Texas State trailed Texas-San Antonio by one at the half, but responded by outscoring the Roadrunners, 50-43, behind a 53.3-percent shooting effort in the second half to collect a 79-73 victory Saturday in San Antonio. The Bobcats hit 50 percent from 3-point range in the second half, while holding UTSA to 23.1 percent on threes for the game. Four different Bobcats reached double figures in scoring, led by 17 points off the bench from freshman guard Ryan White. Texas State outscored the Roadrunners, 34-26, in the paint and outrebounded UTSA, 40-35.

• KEY NUMBERS: Texas State averages a league-best 84.6 points per game, but the run-and-gun Bobcats allow 83.8 points per contest, second-to-last in the league. Likewise, Texas State leads the SLC in rebounds per game with 42.2, but ranks last in the conference in rebounds allowed, giving up an average of 42.1 boards per outing. The Bobcats' press defense has yielded a league-best 9.79 steals per game, and Texas State ranks second in the conference in turnover margin at plus-2.84 per contest. Texas State is the third-most accurate 3-point shooting team in the league, hitting .361 from downtown, and the Bobcats lead the SLC with 8.11 treys per game.

• LEADERS: Junior guard Brandon Bush leads Texas State and ranks third in the conference with 15.0 points per game. Bush is also the top Bobcat and seventh-ranked player in the league in rebounding with 7.3 boards per contest. Bush's classmate and partner in the backcourt, Brent Benson is 10th in the SLC with 12.8 points per game and also ranks 10th in the league in 3-point field goal percentage, knocking down 38.6 percent from behind the arc. Senior guard Brandon Thomas' 2.16 steals per game are fourth in the conference, and junior guard Corey Jefferson stands seventh in the SLC with 1.83 thefts per outing.

• For the complete release, click on the "Texas State Game Notes" link in the side bar of the Men's Basketball home page.

-- SFA --