Stephen F. Austin

Dec. 13, 2012

Game Notes In PDF Format

SFA (6-1) vs Lubbock Christian (6-4)
Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012 • 6:00 p.m. (CT)
William R. Johnson Coliseum (7,203) • Nacogdoches, Texas
Radio: None • Video: www.SFAJacks.com • Live Stats: www.SFAJacks.com

STORY LINES
• The Lumberjacks got back into the win column with a convincing win over LSU Shreveport last week and will now try to back that up with its seventh win of the season on Saturday when it hosts Lubbock Christian.

THE LAST TIME OUT
• Eleven SFA players cracked the scoring column and the Lumberjacks, after building a 40-13 halftime lead, cruised by visiting LSU Shreveport, 73-46 on Saturday at William R. Johnson Coliseum. The `Jacks (6-1) got forced 23 Pilot (6-3) turnovers and outscored the LSUS bench 40-7, while Jacob Parker pumped in 16 points and six rebounds to lead the way. SFA shot 42.9 percent from the floor, getting 21 assists on its 27 made baskets, including six from senior point guard Hal Bateman. 

UP NEXT
• SFA travels to Norman, Okla., to take on the Sooners on Tuesday. The last time SFA went to Norman was in the 2007-08 season when the ‘Jacks left Lloyd Noble Arena with a 66-62 victory and eventually went on to claim its first ever Southland Conference title.

QUICK HITS
• The Lumberjacks will be looking to extend their streak of 39 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 six games of this season.
• After outrebounding LSU Shreveport, 39-34, on Saturday, SFA has outrebounded 16 of its last 17 opponents with its win over San Diego being the only occasion it has not happened when the Toreros drew even on the boards, 26-26.
• SFA’s win over Tulsa was its fourth win in its last five games vs Conference USA opponents.
• SFA is 40-0 vs non-Division I programs in the Danny Kaspar era.
• 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.

Series Notes
The ‘Jacks have never faced the Chapparals. SFA is 40-0 vs non-Division I programs in the Danny Kaspar era.

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 has held each of its 32 opponents under 70 points in 2011-12, and has done the same in each of its first six games of 2012-13 to extend its school-record streak of sub-70 defensive performances. 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.

OKLAHOMA 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.

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 47.0 points per game through its first seven contests, holding four of its opponents below 60 points.

HOME NON-CONFERENCE: SFA has won 37 of its last 39 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. The Lumberjacks are now 65-5, overall, in home, non-conference games in 13 seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar.

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.   

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 (8.2 rpg) and is already third in the league in rebound margin, pulling down 7.6 rebounds per contest more than its opponent, just one year after leading the Southland in rebound margin (+7.1 rpg). The ‘Jacks have not been outrebounded by an opponent in seven tries this season.

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.

DIALING LONG DISTANCE: The ‘Jacks did plenty of damage from the perimiter in its win over Howard Payne, hitting 10 of its 17 shots from beyond the arc. Five of the threes came from junior transfer Deshaunt Walker, and the 10 triples were the most since the ‘Jacks hit 10 in a win over Chicago State in 2010

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 18 blocks (2.5 bpg) in the first seven 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.

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 17 of 35 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 41.5 points per game through four home games this season.

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 has followed suit with the ‘Jacks getting victories after taking a halftime lead into the locker room in each of its six wins, having held four of those opponents to less than 20 points in the opening period,  

SAFE AT HOME: In 12-plus seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar, the Lumberjacks have compiled a 140-35 (.798) record in the William R. Johnson Coliseum. SFA is 336-126 (.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.

GLASS COMMANDER: Thomas Walkup was perfect from the floor in his collegiate debut with 11 points vs Howard Payne, but since has made his biggest impact on the glass. The redshirt freshman is averaging just less than 18 minutes per game, but is pulling down just over four boards per contest in his time, which is second on the team. More impressively, he is hauling in 2.4 offensive boards per game, a mark which ranks seventh in the Southland Conference.  

BOOM BOSTIC: Senior guard Antonio Bostic is averaging less than 10 points per game in seven games this year, but has saved his best performances for the stiffest competition. He’s averaging 14.0 point per game vs Division I opponents, including a career-high 23 points in a road win at Florida International that earned him Southland Conference Player of the Week honors.

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 225, trailing only Marshall Brown (345) and Bob Shelton (245). Kaspar also has 444 career wins between his time at SFA and Incarnate Word, second among active Southland Conference to Northwestern State’s Mike McConathy’s 542 wins, 352 of which came at the junior college ranks.

BELOW FIFTY: SFA held 14 opponents below 50 points each of the last two seasons. In 12 seasons under Danny Kaspar the Lumberjacks have held an opponent to 50 points or fewer on 58 occasions, losing just five of those games. This year, SFA has held four of its seven opponents under 50 points.

45-MINUTE MAN: Antonio Bostic played all 45 minutes in a pair of overtime games last season for SFA, marking the most minutes played by any Lumberjack since Josh Alexander played all 55 minutes in a 112-111 SFA win over North Dakota State in triple OT in the 2008-09 season. He played at least 40 minutes in 8 of the final 12 games of last season and finished third in the league in minutes per game with 34.2.

AGAINST THE BIG XII: SFA is 2-11 against teams from the Big XII in 12 years under head coach Danny Kaspar. The Lumberjacks knocked off Baylor, 79-57, in Waco during the 2003-04 season and defeated Oklahoma, 66-62, on the road in 2007-08. This year the ‘Jacks play just one Big XII opponent, making their first trip to Norman since their upset of the Sooners in 2007.

BOUNCING BACK: SFA is 15-6 over the last two seasons in games following a loss. Over the last five seasons entering 2012-13, the ’Jacks are 26-0 in home games following defeats. The last time SFA dropped two straight games with the second loss coming at home was the 2006-07 season, when the ’Jacks fell at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, then lost at home to UTSA in the regular-season finale.

-SFA-