Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks
Southland (29-4, 17-1)
Last year Stephen F. Austin had a season to remember. The Lumberjacks went 18-0 in Southland play and then knocked off VCU in the Round of 64 of the NCAA Tournament. This time around SFA has not been quite as dominant and they actually lost a conference game. But this is a team that beat Memphis and their non-conference losses came against Xavier, Baylor and Northern Iowa. They even took the Panthers to overtime, which is a very impressive loss in retrospect. In the end, this team is just as dangerous as they were last year.
Big Wins: 12/2 at Memphis (64-52), 12/5 Long Beach State (74-45), 1/24 at Sam Houston State (79-68)
Bad Losses: 11/18 Northern Iowa (77-79), 11/21 at Xavier (63-81), 2/14 at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (63-71)
Coach: Brad Underwood
Why They Can Surprise:
Thomas Walkup and Jacob Parker provide an impressive one-two punch for the high scoring Lumberjacks. Walkup, a 6-4 wing, averages 15.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game. He is not a shooter, but always finds a way to attack the basket effectively. Parker, a 6-6 forward, is not far behind Walkup in any category, averaging 14.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists. Point guard Trey Pinkney deserves much more credit than he gets. He will not score much at all, nor does he need to, but Pinkney is one of the reasons why no team in the country shares the ball better than Stephen F. Austin.
Why They Can Disappoint:
Walkup and Parker are usually the starters in the frontcourt. That is a 6-4 wing and a 6-6 forward starting at the four and five spots. Freshman Ty Charles is 6-5 and does a great job on the glass, but the competition is about to get tougher and toughness and tenacity are not enough to win the battle on the glass against bigger opposition. Coach Brad Underwood does have Tanner Clayton, a 6-9 senior, to bring into the lineup as needed, but overall there is simply not a lot of size on the roster. The VCU game a year ago was a great matchup for the Lumberjacks. They can beat a smaller team like VCU. But a team with a couple quality big men will be able to have their way offensively with the Lumberjacks and cause enough trouble on the other end of the floor to keep SFA from scoring 80 points to win the game.
Probable Starters:
Trey Pinkney, Junior, Guard, 3.5 ppg, 3.9 apg
Dallas Cameron, Sophomore, Guard, 4.8 ppg, 1.5 apg
Ty Charles, Freshman, Guard, 8.4 ppg, 1.8 apg, 5.0 rpg
Thomas Walkup, Junior, Guard, 15.7 ppg, 3.7 apg, 6.4 rpg
Jacob Parker, Senior, Forward, 14.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg
Key Roleplayers:
Tanner Clayton, Senior, Forward, 4.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.6 bpg
Demetrious Floyd, Junior, Guard, 6.9 ppg,1.4 apg
Clide Geffrard, Junior, Forward, 8.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg
Jared Johnson, Junior, Guard, 8.6 ppg, 1.3 apg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 79.0 (11th in nation, 2nd in conference)
Scoring Defense: 63.9 (105, 2)
Field-Goal Percentage: 49.1 (6, 1)
Field-Goal Defense: 43.8 (212, 4)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 7.8 (51, 2)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 38.5 (37, 1)
Free-Throw Percentage: 72.6 (52, 2)
Rebound Margin: 5.5 (30, 3)
Assists Per Game: 17.7 (1, 1)
Turnovers Per Game: 14.2 (301, 5)
Recent Postseason Appearances:
2013 NIT First Round loss to Stanford
2014 NCAA Second Round win over VCU
2014 NCAA Third Round loss to UCLA
2009 NCAA Round of 64 loss to Syracuse
2008 NIT First Round loss to Massachusetts
1987 NIT First round win over James Madison
1987 NIT Second round loss to Arkansas-Little Rock
*all team stats through 3/8
See All Men’s Basketball Postseason Capsules
