Stephen F. Austin State University Lumberjacks (#14, South, Miami pod)
vs. Syracuse (#3)
Fri., 3/20 at 12:15 PM
Vegas Line: SFASU, +12
General Profile
Location: Nacogdoches, Texas
Conference: Southland, Automatic bid
Coach: Danny Kaspar , 158-103
08-09 Record: 24-7 (16-3)
Last 12 Games: 10-2, won last eight
Best Win: North Dakota State, 112-111 (3OT) on December 12th
Worst Loss: Louisiana-Monroe 60-58 on November 25th
Off. Efficiency Rating: 96.6, 242nd
Def. Efficiency Rating: 88.9 13th
Nuts ‘n Bolts
Star Player(s): Matt Kingsley, 16.2 ppg and 7.8 rpg, Josh Alexander, 14.5 ppg, and 5.4 rpg
Unsung Hero: 5’3” Eric Bell starts at the point and averages 3.6 points and assists per game.
Potential NBA Draft Pick(s): None
Key Injuries: None
Depth: 28.4%, 230th; percentage of minutes played by reserves
Achilles Heel: The offense is awful for an NCAA Tournament team. Low shooting percentage (200th best) hurts this team because they don’t grab any offensive rebounds for second opportunities.
Will Make a Deep Run if…: SFASU shoots the lights out and Syracuse’s legs are dead from playing seven overtimes in the Big East Tournament
Will Make an Early Exit if…: The Syracuse zone exploits the fact this team can’t shoot and the Lumberjacks lose by 40.
NCAA History
Last Year Invited: Never
Streak: Never been dancing
Best NCAA Finish: First Appearance
Other
Six Degrees to Detroit: SFASU beat North Dakota State who beat Oakland who beat Wisconsin-Green Bay who beat Detroit.
Distance to First Round Site: 1224 miles
School’s Claim to Fame: Stephen F. Austin tried to win a Wikipedia War with Syracuse.
School Wishes It Could Forget: Stephen F. Austin lost its Wikipedia War with Syracuse.
Prediction: This team is one and done. The Lumberjacks didn’t beat anyone in the regular season to make you think they could beat Syracuse.
Major RTC stories: None
Preview written by Jameson Fleming of The Bleacher Report