SFA Travels To Take On A&M
11/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 17, 2008
NACOGDOCHES, Texas -
Essentials
SFA at Texas A&M Tuesday, November 18, 2008 • 7:00 p.m. Reed Arena (12,989) • College Station, Texas Radio: 94.7 FM • Television: None • Internet: Yahoo! Sports Live video feed available at www.aggieathletics.com
Game Information
First Test: The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack basketball team will meet its first Division I opponent of the season Tuesday, when the 'Jacks (1-0) head to College Station, Texas, to take on Texas A&M. The game against the Aggies (1-0) is the first of two contests against Big 12 opponents this season and the first of five non-conference meetings with teams that posted at least 20 wins in 2007-08.
Last Game: SFA was dominant in a 77-38 win over Howard Payne on Friday. The 38 points are the fewest given up to a Lumberjack opponent since SFA held Huston-Tillotson to 33 last December, and mark the second-lowest point total for a Lumberjack foe in eight-plus seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar. Three different 'Jacks reached double figures in scoring, and all three -- seniors Josh Alexander and Matt Kingsley and sophomore Eddie Williams -- finished with 16 points. Senior Nick Shaw and redshirt freshman Jereal Scott each pulled down a team-high six rebounds, leading SFA to a 37-27 edge on the boards. In addition to his 16 points, which tied a career high, Williams tied his own personal best marks for field goals (7) and steals (3). Junior transfer Girod Adams came off the bench to score five points, pull down five boards and dish out a game-high seven assists.
vs. Texas A&M: The Aggies lead the all-time series with SFA, 13-3. The teams last met in 1999 -- the season before Danny Kaspar took over at SFA -- with A&M taking a 70-65 verdict. The series opened in 1932 with a 54-38 home win by SFA. The 'Jacks are 1-9 in their last 10 meetings with A&M, with the only SFA win in that span being an 89-82 verdict in the 1970-71 season. The Lumberjacks' other road win in the series came in a 75-74 game at A&M during the 1968-69 season.
The Aggies: Texas A&M returns three starters from a team that went 25-11 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament a season ago. The Aggies have won 47 straight regular-season, non-conference games at home and are 42-5 overall in their last 47 home contests. A&M opened its season Sunday with a 76-47 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff..
The Coaches: SFA is led by head coach Danny Kaspar. Kaspar is in his ninth season at the helm for the Lumberjacks. He holds a record of 135-96 (.584) at SFA and has a 354-148 (.705) overall record in 17-plus seasons as a collegiate head coach. Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon is 179-130 (.579) in his 11th season as a head coach and is 26-11 (.703) in two seasons at A&M.
Up Next: The Lumberjacks will take a week off before resuming action next Tuesday with a road game against Louisiana-Monroe. The contest is a return game from last year's 71-68 SFA win in Nacogdoches.
News and Notes
GRAND OPENING: With the Lumberjacks' 77-38 win over Howard Payne, SFA moved to 6-3 in nine season openers under head coach Danny Kaspar. SFA is perfect at 9-0 in home openers during Kaspar's tenure.
BIG 12: In eight seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar, SFA is 2-5 against teams from the Big 12 Conference. The 'Jacks have played at least one Big 12 foe in all but two seasons of Kaspar's tenure -- 2001-02 and 2004-05. SFA's two wins were at Baylor (79-57) in 2003-04 and at Oklahoma (66-62) last season. Tuesday's game at Texas A&M is the first of two contests against Big 12 opponents this season. SFA will also take on Texas Tech on New Year's Day.
RANK AND FILE: SFA was ranked No. 11 in the Preseason CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. This marks the first time in the poll's 10-year history for SFA to enter the season as a ranked team. In addition, the No. 11 ranking is the highest entry to the poll for a Lumberjack team to date. SFA spent a program-best 15 consecutive weeks ranked in last year's Mid-Major Top 25 after debuting at No. 25 on Dec. 10. The 'Jacks climbed as high as No. 6, including a first-place vote, on Feb. 25, and finished the season ranked 14th.
STEADY EDDIE: Sophomore Eddie Williams made his first career start against Howard Payne, getting the nod at shooting guard. He played 25 minutes and tied career highs for points (16), field goals (7) and steals (3). In addition to his impact on the defensive end, Williams provided a spark in transition, as 10 of his 16 points came on fast breaks.
THREE OF A KIND: Seniors Josh Alexander and Matt Kingsley tied with sophomore Eddie Williams for the high-point total in SFA's opener against Howard Payne. Each of the three accounted for 16 points. Combined, they would have outscored the Yellow Jackets, 48-38, on their own.
BOARDED UP: Four different Lumberjacks -- Josh Alexander, Nick Shaw, Girod Adams and Jereal Scott -- pulled down at least five rebounds in SFA's win over Howard Payne. That happened just five times all of last season and only once in non-conference play. Five 'Jacks pulled down five or more rebounds against Huston-Tillotson on Dec. 21.
SHOOTING STRAIGHT: SFA opened the 2008-09 season with a .518 shooting percentage against Howard Payne. That figure is the best in a season opener under head coach Danny Kaspar. The previous best was the .511 SFA shot in the season-opening 64-60 win over Loyola Chicago in 2000-01, Kaspar's first season at SFA.
HISTORICALLY ACCURATE: Seniors Josh Alexander and Matt Kingsley are creeping up the list of all-time scorers at SFA. Alexander is currently 11th all-time with 1,306 career points, while Kingsley's 1,013 career points rank him just outside the top 20. They've reached their current level by being some of the most accurate shooters in Lumberjack basketball history. Alexander, the school's all-time leader in 3-pointers, has the third-best 3-point field goal percentage in the program's Division I history at .437. Kingsley's .521 field goal percentage stands seventh among Division I marks. Both players are just outside the top 10 for Division I free throw percentage. Kingsley is 11th at .762, while Alexander is 12th at .754.
DEFENSE FIRST: SFA's defense was dominant in 2007-08. The Lumberjacks held opponents to an average of 56.4 points per game, which ranked second in the nation. The Lumberjacks got out to a good start defensively in 2008-09, posting a 77-38 win over Howard Payne. The 38 points are the fewest allowed to an SFA opponent since holding Huston-Tillotson to 33 on Dec. 21.
LOW-POINT: While defense has always been emphasized by SFA head coach Danny Kaspar, recent history has seen an even stronger defensive performance by the 'Jacks. In eight-plus seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar, SFA has held 28 opponents to 50 points or fewer. SFA held the competition below that level nine times in 2007-08. The previous best under Kaspar was four games with fewer than 50 points.
SPECIAL SEASON: SFA's 26-6 mark in 2007-08 is the best record for a Lumberjack team since the program joined the NCAA Division I ranks in the 1986-87 season. The Southland Conference title is the first for the Lumberjack program since joining the league for the 1987-88 season. It marks the third 20-win season in head coach Danny Kaspar's tenure and is the highest win total for a Kaspar-coached Lumberjack team to date. SFA finished the regular season with a 25-4 (.862) mark. The last time an SFA team finished the regular season with a better winning percentage was 1972-73, when the Lumberjacks went 25-3 but failed to qualify for postseason play. Only four times in the 84-year history of Lumberjack basketball has a team won 25 or more games in a single season, with the 25-win total having been eclipsed in the regular season only twice -- 1969-70 and 1972-73.
ALEXANDER THE GREAT: Junior forward Josh Alexander enjoyed a record year in 2007-08. The Shreveport, La., native scored 15 or more points on 20 different occasions last season, including eight performances with at least 20 points, and had three double-digit rebound efforts. He finished the year with 1,290 career points, moving him into 12th place on the list of SFA's career scoring leaders. During the season, Alexander became the school's all-time leader in career 3-point field goals. He hit 94 3-pointers -- a new career-high for triples in a season -- and has 239 for his career.
FAST START: SFA opened the 2007-08 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 picking up their second loss of the season in the 16th game. SFA's 10-game winning streak during its 12-1 start was the program's first double-digit run since the `Jacks won 13 in a row during the 2002-03 season.
NO MISTAKING: SFA was one of the more careful teams in the nation in 2007-08. The Lumberjacks committed just 12.3 turnovers per game, which ranked 29th in the country. At the same time, SFA's 17.0 personal fouls per game was the 58th-lowest average in the NCAA Division I ranks. SFA led the Southland Conference by a wide margin in each category.
SAFE AT HOME: In eight-plus seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar, the Lumberjacks have compiled an 89-27 (.767) record in the William R. Johnson Coliseum, including a 13-1 home mark last season. SFA is 285-118 (.707) all-time in the Coliseum. SFA defeated Howard Payne, 77-38, in the season opener. Kaspar's teams are 9-0 in home openers at SFA.
REMEMBERING A LUMBERJACK LEGEND: In memory of Marshall Brown, who passed away over the summer, the Lumberjacks will wear a black band on their game jerseys during the 2008-09 season. Brown coached men's basketball at SFA from 1959-1978 and is the school's all-time winningest coach with 345 career victories and a .672 winning percentage in 19 seasons.
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-- SFA --
