Stephen F. Austin

March 6, 2013

Game Notes In PDF Format

SFA (24-3, 14-2 SLC) vs Sam Houston State (15-13, 8-8 SLC)
Saturday, March 7, 2013 • 8:00 p.m. (CT)
William R. Johnson Coliseum (7,203) • Nacogdoches, Texas
Radio: Q107.7 FM • TV: ESPN3 • Live Stats: www.SFAJacks.com

STORY LINES
• The Lumberjacks are on the verge of their third Southland Conference title and with one win in its final two regular season games, SFA will clinch no less than a share of the league crown and the No. 1 seed in next week’s conference tournament. SFA will have its first shot to take the crown on Thursday when it hosts Piney Woods rival Sam Houston State.

• SFA has never clinched a Southland Conference title on its home floor, having claimed both the 2008 and 2009 crowns on the road. Each of SFA’s final two regular season games are on its home floor, both vs teams it has already defeated on the road.

THE LAST TIME OUT
• Desmond Haymon hit a driving go-ahead layup with less than 12 seconds to play and Jalan Wests’s three-point try at the buzzer rimmed out, giving the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks a 64-63 win over Northwestern State in a battle of first-place teams on Saturday at William R. Johnson Coliseum. The Lumberjacks, who led for all but just 65 seconds of the entire game needed every point it could get after the Demons erased a six-point halftime deficit to take a one-point lead with just 45 seconds remaining on a pair of foul shots from West. One possession later, after a key offensive rebound from Nikola Gajic, Haymon converted a his layup and the `Jacks got the stop they needed to avenge a four-point loss in the team’s first meeting, a game SFA led by seven points with less than three minutes to play. 

UP NEXT
• SFA is guaranteed two byes in the Southland Conference Tournament and will open up play on Friday in Katy as either the No. 1 seed with a 5:00 pm game scheduled, or as the No. 2 seed to play at 7:30 p.m for a berth in the title game.

QUICK HITS
• The Lumberjacks will be looking to extend their streak of 59 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 27 games of this season.

• The 'Jacks enter Saturday with a 13-0 home mark, having won 16 games in a row at William R. Johnson Coliseum, a mark tied for sixth best in the country.

• 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.

• Taylor Smith has become SFA's all-time shot blocker with 122 for his career

• SFA is 38-8 since the the beginning of the 2012 calendar year.

• The Lumberjacks enter Saturday's game averaging just 50.6 points allowed per game, the lowest mark in the country. No team in the nation has ended the year allowing an average of less than 50 points per game since the 1992-93 Princeton Tigers.

Series Notes
The Bearkats are SFA’s longest-tenured opponent, with this set to be the 159th meeting between the teams. The ‘Jacks trail the all-time series by just three games, but did sweep the ‘Kats in three games last year and won the first meeting this season. A win would give SFA its first five-game win streak over the ‘Kats since winning six in a row from 1994 to 1997.

PREVIOUS PURPLE CROWNS: SFA is just one win away from claiming its third Southland Conference title, all of which will have come under Danny Kaspar and each in the last six seasons. The Lumberjacks previously claimed titles in both the 2007-08 (26-6, 13-3 SLC) and 2008-09 (24-8, 13-3 SLC) seasons, but this could be be the most dominating run of the three as the ‘Jacks enter the final two games of the regular season with just two losses in its first 16 league games.

NEVER ENOUGH Ws: With two more wins this season, SFA would surpass the 2007-08 squad’s 26 wins as the most for the program since joining Division I for the 1986-97 season. The school record is 31 wins set by the 1971-72 Lumberjacks who went 31-3 and captured the Lone Star Conference championship.

SFA WITH THE ELITE: SFA dropped just its third game of the season when it fell at Southeastern Louisiana, but still ranks at the top of the country with its 24-3 record. They are joined by Gonzaga, Duke, and Louisiana Tech as teams left in the country with three or less losses.   

HOME SWEET HOME: SFA is 13-0 at home this season and enters Thursday having won 16 in a row at William R. Johnson Coliseum, a streak that is tied with Middle Tennessee and Virginia for the seventh longest home win streak in the country.

SMITH NOMINATED FOR HENSON AWARD:  The honors have started to come in for senior big man Taylor Smith as last week he was named as one of 25 finalists for the Lou Henson Award, an honor presented by CollegeInsider.com to the top Mid-Major payer in the country. He is the only Southland player to be named to the list and is joined by other nationally-recognized names such as Murray State’s Isaiah Canaan, Creighton’s Doug McDermott and Saint Mary’s Matthew Dellavadova.

BRINGING BACK BOSTIC: Antonio Bostic had been relatively quiet offensively over SFA’s eight games leading into the BracketBuster matchup at Long beach State, reaching double figures just once in those games after a stretch of hitting for at least 10 points in six of his previous seven outings. That silence came to a screeching halt on Friday at Long Beach State when Bostic pumped in 21 points against the 49ers, and followed that up with 15 points in SFA’s win over Northwestern State. He’s .518 from the field in his last two games.

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 20 of 41 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 47.1 points per game in 13 home games this season.

SAFE AT HOME: In 12-plus seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar, the Lumberjacks have compiled a 149-35 (.792) record in the William R. Johnson Coliseum. SFA is 345-126 (.840) all-time in the Coliseum. SFA has recorded eight straight seasons and 11 campaigns in last 12 years with double-digit wins at home after its win over Northwestern State pushed the ‘Jacks to 13-0 at home this season, which is the best home mark for SFA since going 15-0 at home in 2003-04. Of those 13 wins, 11 have come by double digits.

ON THE BIG SCREEN:  SFA’s BracketBusters win at Long Beach State on ESPNU was the first regular season game in SFA’s history to be televised on either ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU. It also gave SFA eight scheduled TV games this season, which makes this season the most televised season in SFA history, eclipsing the 2008-09 season when SFA was televised seven times in a season in which it went to the NCAA Tournament.

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 27 games of 2012-13 to extend its school-record streak of sub-70 defensive performances to 59. 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.

LEADING THE PACK: With a 24-3 record it is logical to think that the ‘Jacks have played from ahead most of this year, but it is staggering when you break it down. SFA has led at the half of 23 of its 27 games and won 19 games by double digits, but of 540 minutes played in the second half, SFA has only trailed for 34:37 of them, which is just 6.4% of all minuts played in the second period.  

‘JACKS IN THE RPI: When the latest NCAA RPI report came out on Monday, the Lumberjacks found themselves with the highest RPI of any team in the Southland Conference at No. 63.  SFA is one of two SLC schools to check in on the RPI Top 100, joined by Northwestern State (No. 95) in the Top 100.

CLAMPING DOWN: The Lumberjacks were at their defensive best on vs Southeastern in the second half of their first meeting, holding the Lions to just 4-for-24 (16 percent) shooting from the field in holding them to just 15 points in the final 20 minutes. Oddly enough, the ‘Jacks seriously put the clamps on the Lions a year ago as well in the second half, holding Southeastern to just 3-for-16 shooting from the field in holding the Lions to just 36 points, marking the first time since 2008 that SFA had held a Southland opponent under the 40-point plateau. It was the lowest point total by a Southland opponent for the `Jacks in the Danny Kaspar era, and the eighth of 11 times since 2007-08 the ‘Jacks have kept an opponent under 40 points.

RANK AND FILE: SFA got an early Christmas present on Christmas Eve, breaking into the CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Top 25. The ‘Jacks checked in at No. 25 have moved as high as No. 6 in the latest poll released on Monday. The ‘Jacks are the only Southland Conference school to make an appearance in the poll this year, but still have not reached its Mid Major Top 25 peak as it did when it received a first-place vote and peaked at No. 6 in the poll during the 2007-08 season.

SAME ‘OL, SAME ‘OL: In addition to defense, consistency has been the name of the game this season for SFA, and it begins with the starting five. The ‘Jacks opened the season with the starting five of Hal Bateman, Antonio Bostic, Desmond Haymon, Jacob Parker and Taylor Smith and have not varied since the season opener. Entering Thursday’s game, SFA  and Creighton are the only two teams in the country to have used the same starting five in every game.

CARDINAL RULE: SFA had no issues with downing Lamar in its first meeting this season, 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.  Recently the ‘Jacks matched that margin in its 72-36 win over Central Arkansas on Thursday.

SITTIN’ ON 20: The ‘Jacks picked up their 20th win of the season on when they knocked off Oral Roberts. This season marks the seventh 20-win season for SFA since becoming a Division I program in 1988, all have come under Danny Kaspar.

TOP OF THE WALL: Taylor Smith has been outstanding as SFA’s last wall of defense this year, and the numbers are showing just that. The senior, who was a two-time league defensive player of the year at McLennan CC before coming to SFA, has 80 blocks (3.0 bpg) in 27 games of the season, surpassing Emanuel Jackson’s 61 blocks in 1999-00 as the season record in the Division I era at SFA. Only one Lumberjack has ever led the league in blocks -- Tim Holloway in 1989-90. Smith’s 3.0 blocks per game currently ranks first in the league and 14th in the nation.

A DUNK IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS: Typically, Danny Kaspar teams are not known as a high-flying bunch with dunks galore; however, this year’s group has the ‘Jacks singing a different tune. The maestro is senior big man Taylor Smith, who has dunked home 52 of his 181 made shots, a mark which is 28.71 percent of his made shots.

FIRST HALF KNOCKOUT: As the top scoring defense in the country, the Lumberjacks have managed to hold nine of their 27 opponents to under 20 points in the first half this season, taking a lead into the break 23 times; however, SFA did itself one better at McNeese State, holding the Cowboys to just nine points in the opening 20 minutes en route to a 26-9 halftime lead. The nine points scored was the first time an SFA team has held an opponent to single digits in a half since Central Arkansas scored just seven points in a win in Nacogdoches during the 2008-09 season. That mark is tied for the fourth-lowest first-half total in the country this year.

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. 2 rebounder in Taylor Smith (8.9 rpg) and is tops in the league in rebound margin by a wide gap, pulling down 7.0 rebounds per contest more than its opponent.

TAYLOR MADE: Senior post Taylor Smith scored his eighth double-double this season with 13 points and 10 rebounds in SFA’s win at Sam Houston State. He has been named the league’s player of the week three times, and currently leads the nation in field-goal percentage (.699) and is tops in the SLC in blocks per game (3.0 bpg), while ranking in the top five in scoring (15.8 ppg) and rebounding (8.9 rpg). But he has been even better in league play, nearly averaging a double-double vs SLC teams with 16.5 points and 9.8 rebounds while shooitng .724. His nine double-doubles on the year are behind only Oral Roberts’ Damen Bell-Holter for tops in the Southland.

DEFYING LOGIC: It stands to reason to think that a team which both outrebounds and outshoots its opponent has amplified chances to pull out a victory. Such has been the case for this year’s SFA squad, leading the Southland in both field-goal percentage and rebound margin; however, its loss to Northwestern State defied that logic as the ‘Jacks both outshot (41.7% to 36.8%) and outrebounded (43 to 35) the Demons and still fell in defeat. It was just the sixth time in 184 games since the 2007-08 season SFA has outshot and outrebounded an opponent and still been defeated.

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 winning each of their first 19 games of the year when leading at the break before it’s loss at Southeastern Louisiana. In that game SFA held a 23-21 lead at the midway point before eventually falling 54-50.

VOTES OF CONFIDENCE: After two weeks without a vote, the ‘Jacks received a pair of votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll released on February 11. It was the the second time this year SFA has received votes in the poll, and the first year SFA had received votes since getting votes in both the AP and Coaches Polls during its 2007-08 SLC title season. The ‘Jacks also received its first AP vote of the season on Feb. 25, it’s first vote in the AP Top 25 since the 2007-08 season as well.

DEFENDING THE ARC: A year ago the ‘Jacks allowed opponents to hit 33.3 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 23-2 record after 27 games, SFA is tops in the nation in defending the three-point line, allowing its opponents to hit just 27.3 percent of its threes as the only team in the Southland holding its opponents to less than 30.0 percent shooting from distance.

KASPAR KOUNTER: Danny Kaspar picked up his 200th win at SFA in last year’s season opener vs Centenary and currently stands third all-time at SFA in head coaching wins with 242, trailing only Marshall Brown (345) and Bob Shelton (245). With at least three games left on the slate, it’s still very possible that Kaspar moves past Brown for second on the all-time list at SFA by season’s end. Also, 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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