GAME NOTES: Jarvis Christian
12/17/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 17, 2010
NACOGDOCHES, Texas -
Complete Release in PDF Format 
VITALS
Jarvis Christian at Stephen F. Austin
Saturday, Dec. 18, 2010 • 7:00 p.m. (CST)
William R. Johnson Coliseum (7,200) • Nacogdoches, Texas
Radio: Q107.7-FM • TV: None • Online: SFA All-Access
Lumberjacks
Record: 6-2
Last 5/Streak: 4-1/W-2
Coach: Danny Kaspar
Career: 406-166
At SFA: 187-114
SID: Brian Ross
E-mail: rossbrian@sfasu.edu
Web: sfajacks.com
Bulldogs
Record: 5-6
Last 5/Streak: 2-3/L-2
Coach: Keith McKinnon
SID: Angela Lawson
E-mail: alawson@jarvis.edu
Web: jarvis.edu/athletics
GAME INFORMATION
HOLIDAY HOOPS: SFA will open the 2010 Christmas break Saturday night with a home game against Jarvis Christian College. It marks the Lumberjacks' fourth home game in their last five contests. SFA is 5-0 at home and brings a 6-2 overall record to the contest. Jarvis Christian comes into the game with a 5-6 mark. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start from Johnson Coliseum.
LAST GAME: SFA held Chicago State below 40 points in a 94-38 thrashing in the final game of the Etech Lumberjack Classic. The Cougars committed 26 turnovers, a season-high for SFA opponents, and their 38 points are the fewest by a Lumberjack foe since Huston-Tillotson scored 33 against the 'Jacks during the 2007-08 season. SFA posted its best shooting performance in six years, knocking down 54.7 percent from the field. Junior center Jereal Scott scored 17 points to lead SFA and was named the Etech Classic MVP. Freshman Amos Olatayo came off the bench for 12 points, and junior Brandon Cutler added 11. Point guard Denzel Barnes scored 10 points and had a career-high eight assists.
THE BULLDOGS: Jarvis Christian opened the season by winning two of its first three games. The Bulldogs have gone 3-5 since and are coming off consecutive losses. Jarvis Christian is 3-4 on the road this season. Saturday's game is the second of three straight against Southland Conference opponents. Jarvis Christian pushed McNeese State hard in a 96-91 loss on Dec. 9. After playing SFA, the Bulldogs will take on Nicholls on the road Tuesday.
vs. JARVIS CHRISTIAN: SFA is 2-0, all-time, against the Bulldogs. The first meeting was a 127-73 win in the 1980-81 season. The teams last met in 2008-09, when the 'Jacks took a 69-46 win.
COVERAGE: Saturday's game will be streamed live online via SFA All-Access. Live stats will also be provided via GameTracker, and the game will be broadcast live on KTBQ 107.7 FM. Rob Meyers has the call.
UP NEXT: SFA will travel to El Paso for a game against UTEP on Monday. The contest is set for a 9:30 p.m. tip. Following that game, the Lumberjacks will have a nine-day break before wrapping up their in-season home-and-home series with ULM. SFA hosts the Warhawks on Dec. 29 in a 7 p.m. game.
NEWS AND NOTES
DEFENSE FIRST: The Lumberjacks lead the nation in scoring defense through games of Dec. 12. The 53.1 points per game SFA has allowed make the 'Jacks one of just seven teams in the country to give up fewer than 55 points per game. SFA has finished the year ranked among the top 10 in scoring defense in each of the last three seasons, including No. 2 rankings in 2008 and 2009. The best defensive season by a Lumberjack team in the Division I era was 2008-09, when SFA held the opposition to 56.1 points per game.
TWO MUCH DEFENSE: SFA held its two opponents in the Etech Lumberjack Classic to a combined total of 79 points. Grambling scored 41 and Chicago State put up 38. That's the lowest combined two-game total for a pair of SFA opponents since the 1981-82 season when SFA held East Texas State and Southwest Texas State to 44 and 35 points, respectively, in back-to-back games.
HIGH RATE OF TURNOVER: SFA forced Chicago State into 26 turnovers, a season high for Lumberjack opponents and the most turnovers by an SFA foe since Texas College turned it over 29 times during the 2008-09 season.
ALL-TOURNAMENT: Jereal Scott averaged 14 points and four rebounds in two games at the Etech Lumberjack Classic to earn the tournament's MVP award. Jordan Glynn averaged 9.5 points and 10.5 rebounds to join Scott on the all-tournament team.
RELIABLE ASSISTANCE: Point guard Denzel Barnes averages 5.1 assists per game, which ranks second in the Southland Conference. Barnes dished out a career-high eight assists against Chicago State and has posted five or more assists on four occasions this year.
STRAIGHT SHOOTING: SFA had its best all-around shooting night of the year in the win against Chicago State. The 'Jacks shot 54.7 percent from the floor, 52.6 percent from 3-point range and 83.9 percent at the foul line. The last time an SFA team shot better than 50 percent overall and from 3-point range and topped 80 percent at the line was Nov. 23, 2004, against Concordia-Austin. The 'Jacks shot 60 percent from the field, 50 percent from 3-point range and 83.3 percent at the stripe.
CLASSIC RESULTS: SFA is now 4-0 in the Etech Lumberjack Classic after hosting the event for the second straight year. The 'Jacks are 10-0, all-time, in home, regular-season tournaments. SFA went 4-0 in two years of hosting the Tall Pines Classic in 1975 and 1976, and the 'Jacks picked up two wins in the Stephen F. Austin Tournament in 1963.
TOURNAMENT TEAM: Over the last three seasons, SFA is 9-1 in five regular-season, tournament-format events. The Lumberjacks won two games at the Drake Hy-Vee Classic in 2008-09 and split a pair of contests at the Arkansas Jim Thorpe Classic later that season. Last year, SFA swept two games each in the Etech Lumberjack Classic and the St. Mary's Shamrock Classic, then picked up two wins in the 2010 Etech Classic.
BOUNCING BACK: SFA is 2-0 this season in games following a loss. Over the last three seasons, the 'Jacks are 15-0 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.
TWO LITTLE: In SFA's nine-point loss at Texas A&M, Denzel Barnes and Jordan Glynn were the only two players to reach double figures in scoring. They combined to score 34 points, or 64 percent of SFA's total of 53 points. Thirteen of the Lumberjacks' 23 losses over the previous three seasons have come in games with fewer than three double-figure scorers. SFA is 20-14, overall, in such games, dating to the 2007-08 season.
HALFWAY THERE: In both of its losses this season, SFA held the lead at halftime. The Lumberjacks led Texas Tech by one and had a three-point lead on Texas A&M at the break. SFA was 19-1 last year when leading at the half. The 'Jacks have led at the break in all but one of their games this season.
ON THE DOWN-LOW: SFA has outscored its opponents in the paint by an average of 9.5 points per game through eight contests. Forty-two percent of the Lumberjacks' production this season has come from the paint.
POINTS IN THE PAINT: SFA outscored Science and Arts of Oklahoma, 52-14, in the paint. That's the most points down low the Lumberjacks have scored this season and marks just the fifth time in the last four seasons for SFA to break 50. The most post scoring SFA has put up during that stretch was 60 against East Central (Oklahoma) last season.
HIGH-PERCENTAGE: SFA's dominance in the post against USAO directly contributed to the Lumberjacks' best shooting percentage of the season. SFA hit 55.7 percent from the field, bettering the 50-percent effort the 'Jacks put up at ULM.
ALL GOOD FOR GLYNN: Junior forward Jordan Glynn has shot 73.5 percent (25-for-34) from the field and 87.5 percent (21-for-24) at the free throw line in the Lumberjacks' last five games. Glynn's seven field goals at Texas A&M tied a career-high, as did his 20 points in that game.
SECOND CHANCES: SFA averages 13.8 offensive rebounds per game, and the Lumberjacks are making the most of those second chances. SFA has been outscored in second-chance points only once this season and has posted 20-plus points off second shots in four of its first eight games.
ON THE REBOUND: SFA was beaten in rebounding, 34-19, in its win at ULM. It marked the first time this season for the Lumberjacks to be outrebounded and is the largest margin in an opponent's favor since Syracuse beat SFA on the boards, 55-34, in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament. The Lumberjacks won just four times last season in games when they were outrebounded.
DOWN TO THE WIRE: SFA defeated ULM, 65-64, on a 3-pointer by Zac Downing with three seconds left. SFA was 3-4 last season in games decided by three points or fewer, and the 'Jacks are 12-9 in such games over the last four years.
AGAINST THE BIG XII: SFA is 2-9 against teams from the Big XII in 10 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. With games against Texas Tech and Texas A&M in 2010-11, this season marks the third time in the last four years for SFA to play two Big XII opponents.
HOME NON-CONFERENCE: With a 5-0 start at home this season, SFA has now won 25 of its last 26 home, non-conference games, dating to the 2006-07 season. The only loss during that stretch is a two-point defeat against Texas Tech last season. The Lumberjacks are 55-4, overall, in home, non-conference games in 10-plus seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar.
PERFECT AT THE LINE: Freshman point guard Darius Gardner went 10-for-10 at the foul line in SFA's win over Longwood. That's the first time since the 2004-05 season a Lumberjack has hit at least 10 free throws in a single game without missing. Marcus Clark last accomplished that feat by going 11-for-11 at Sam Houston State in the 2004-05 season. That performance came right after a 15-for-15 showing by Clark at Louisiana-Monroe. In 10-plus seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar, SFA players have gone perfect in at least 10 attempts at the stripe only five times. Clark had three such games and Stevin Ozier did it once.
HIGH-SCORING: The 114 points SFA scored against Howard Payne marks the highest offensive output by a Lumberjack team in Danny Kaspar's 10-plus seasons as head coach. It's just the eighth time in Kaspar's tenure for the 'Jacks to break into triple-digits. The last time an SFA team scored more than 114 points was in the 1996-97 home opener when Derek Allister's squad beat Schreiner College, 138-69. Only that total and the 126 points SFA put up against Texas Wesleyan in the 1994-95 campaign top the Lumberjacks' output against Howard Payne in SFA's history at the Division I level.
MARGINAL: The 65-point margin of victory in SFA's 114-49 win over Howard Payne is the widest margin of Danny Kaspar's tenure and the biggest point spread for the 'Jacks since a 138-69 win over Schreiner College in 1994-95.
CENTER OF THE SCORING: Junior center Jereal Scott put up a career-high 27 points in the season opener against Howard Payne. That's the most points scored by a Lumberjack since Matt Kingsley -- Scott's predecessor at the five spot -- scored 29 in a win at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi during the 2007-08 season.
PARTY OF FIVE: SFA has put five players in double figures on two separate occasions this season. Against Howard Payne, Jereal Scott, Jordan Glynn, Eddie Williams, Amos Olatayo and Zac Downing all reached double digits. Glynn, Scott, Olatayo, Brandon Cutler and Dion Prewster all reached double figures against Science and Arts of Oklahoma. That feat has been achieved 17 times in Danny Kaspar's tenure as head coach. The 'Jacks put five in double figures only three times last season.
DOUBLING UP: Both Jordan Glynn and Jereal Scott had double-doubles against Howard Payne (Glynn 15p, 14r; Scott 27p, 10r). Two players recorded double-doubles in the same contest on three occasions last season. Glynn and Scott shared two double-double games, while Eddie Williams and Glynn shared one.
FRESH PERSPECTIVE: Freshman Amos Olatayo came off the bench for 10 points in SFA's win over Howard Payne. That marks the first time since the 2005-06 season for a Lumberjack freshman to reach double figures in the season opener. Josh Alexander was the last SFA rookie to achieve the feat, scoring 10 points in a road win over Tulsa.
BELOW FIFTY: SFA has held four opponents below 50 points so far this season. In 10-plus seasons under Danny Kaspar the Lumberjacks have held an opponent to 50 points or fewer on 46 occasions.
SEASON OPENERS: SFA is now 7-4 in season-opening games under head coach Danny Kaspar. The Lumberjacks have compiled a 12-13 record in season openers as a Division I program (since 1986-87 season). Under Kaspar, the Lumberjacks are 6-0 when opening the season at home and 11-6 in home season openers overall as a Division I program. SFA is 1-4 under Kaspar when opening on the road and is just 1-7, in all, as a Division I program when playing the season opener on the road. The Lumberjacks' only season-opening road win in the last 23 seasons was an 82-72 verdict at Tulsa to start the 2005-06 campaign.
HOME OPENER: SFA knocked off Howard Payne, 114-49, in the 2010-11 home opener. Head coach Danny Kaspar's teams are a perfect 11-0 in home openers at SFA. The last time an SFA team failed to win its home opener was a 67-55 loss to Texas A&M in 1998.
SAFE AT HOME: In 10-plus seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar, the Lumberjacks have compiled a 119-29 (.804) record in the William R. Johnson Coliseum. SFA is 315-120 (.724) all-time in the Coliseum. SFA finished with a 13-2 record in home games last season, marking the fifth straight campaign and the seventh time in eight years for the Lumberjacks to post double-digit wins at home.
EXPERIENCE: SFA has five returning players -- including four starters -- from last season. But with three of the five being junior college transfers in their second year with the Lumberjacks, SFA has only eight years of Division I basketball experience on the 2010-11 roster. That figure is tied for the 10th-fewest years of D-I experience in the nation. Eastern Washington has the fewest combined years of collegiate experience in the nation at four.
FRESH FACES: SFA has eight newcomers -- including transfer Mark Walton, who is redshirting -- on the roster for the 2010-11 season. That figure is tied for the fifth-highest number of first-year players during Danny Kaspar's tenure as head coach.
STEADY EDDIE: A back injury forced guard Eddie Williams to miss SFA's game against Texas College last season. That marked the first time in his career for Williams to miss action. He had played in all 76 games -- including 32 in each of his first two seasons -- coming into the contest against the Steers. He has now played in 103 total games with 62 starting appearances as a Lumberjack.
SITTIN' ON 20: With its victory against A&M-Corpus last year, SFA broke the 20-win barrier for the third consecutive season and the fifth time in Danny Kaspar's 10 years as head coach. Prior to Kaspar's tenure, the only 20-win season in the program's history at the Division I level was the 22-8 record put up by the 'Jacks in the 1986-87 campaign, the program's first as a D-I team.
FAST START: SFA entered Southland Conference play with double figures in the win column last season for just the second time in the program's Division I tenure. The Lumberjacks' only other 10-win pre-conference slate came in 2007-08, when they went 12-2 before opening league play.
-- SFA --
