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Stephen F. Austin Basketball
Gameday Predictions: Texas A&M-CC at Stephen F. Austin
How does it feel to be 1-2 in conference play, SFA fans? There's a
better than likely chance that you've never experienced it before. Good
news - the season gets either better, or worse, tonight.
Stephen F. Austin, the #2 preseason team, takes on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, the #3 preseason team. One of those two, to the surprise of voters, will leave William R. Johnson Coliseum tonight with a 1-3 record.
Have a prediction to add? Join the pick 'em contest right here.
THE GAME: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs. Stephen F. Austin
THE TIME: 7:00CT
THE LOCATION: William R. Johnson Coliseum
THE BROADCAST: ESPN3 (or WatchESPN App), Lumberjacks Sports Network radio (Q107.7 in Nacogdoches, TuneIn App)
Isaac Niedrauer: This is an interesting matchup for a number of reasons. Let's split it into the good and the bad for SFA:
The bad - Forget that this team is 1-2 in league play. Only SFA lost more of last season's scoring and the Islanders have the talent and leadership to inevitably figure it out. All due respect to my colleague Jake and his crush on UCA's Jordan Howard, the Islanders have the conference's best player in Rashawn Thomas and it isn't close.
TAMU-CC scores a huge percentage of their points in transition. They lead the SLC in steals and may do nothing better than converting those forced turnovers into points on the other end. With SFA's well-documented ball handling issues that bodes poorly for the Jacks.
The good - There are actually a number of things that favor SFA here. The Lumberjacks have been a pretty good defensive team all season and there's nothing they do better than shutting down opposing superstars. That's big against this team because there are really only two major scoring threats.
The Islanders lost a lot from last year's team and today they get almost half of their total scoring from two players. The entire offense is designed to give either Rashawn Thomas or Ehab Amin a chance and if those two can be taken out of the play, there really isn't a lot of depth behind them.
Like SFA, TAMU-CC is a different team on the road. While the Jacks have been able to eek out the close ones at home, the Islanders have struggled to put opponents away outside the confines of Corpus Christi, dropping each of their two SLC road games so far.
In conclusion - This game favors SFA's defense in a lot of ways. That means nothing if the offense can't put up some points. The Islanders are a good defensive team in their own right, but with so many of SFA's struggles being self-induced, that almost seems like a given. For a lot of the night, it's going to be TJ Holyfield versus the player he's capable of becoming in Thomas. I want to see TJ play with a Ty Charles-esque mean-streak, come out swinging, and stop passing up the shots.
I get a sense that this series will end up split, home team taking each, but I guess that means it's SFA's turn tonight.
Final Score: 65-59 Stephen F. Austin
Jake Rhodes: Coming off of back-to-back conference losses for the first time in five years, the Jacks are as desperate as anyone for a win. While picking SFA at home is always the safe bet, picking SFA at all right now feels like a reach to me.
This team can't shoot, can't protect the ball, and looks demoralized. Corpus has been as bad as SFA this season (at times), but with two teams slumping this hard, I'll take the more talented. Give me Islanders.
Final Score: 75-60 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Austin Fenoglio: There's no way around it. SFA has been struggling. Despite all of the talent this team has collected, there is an inability to make the easy shots. Mix in the turnovers and you get the mess that they are right now. The home court advantage will have to be there for the Jacks to have a chance. And while a chance may be there, it isn't enough for me to pick SFA.
Final Score: 78-74 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Colton Albritton-Felts: The Jacks are on their heels after coming up short in Abilene. They need a win in a bad way and if they are to ever reach their full potential, it needs to start tonight.
A win over a good Corpus team can instill some confidence in this group and would be a great foundation to build upon going deeper into conference play. There is no easy road from here. I believe the comfort of being back at in William R. Johnson in front of their home crowd and the excellent coaching and preparation that Keller and staff have done will be enough to edge out the Islanders and get SFA back on track.
Final Score: 56-50 Stephen F. Austin
Stephen F. Austin, the #2 preseason team, takes on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, the #3 preseason team. One of those two, to the surprise of voters, will leave William R. Johnson Coliseum tonight with a 1-3 record.
Have a prediction to add? Join the pick 'em contest right here.
THE GAME: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs. Stephen F. Austin
THE TIME: 7:00CT
THE LOCATION: William R. Johnson Coliseum
THE BROADCAST: ESPN3 (or WatchESPN App), Lumberjacks Sports Network radio (Q107.7 in Nacogdoches, TuneIn App)
Isaac Niedrauer: This is an interesting matchup for a number of reasons. Let's split it into the good and the bad for SFA:
The bad - Forget that this team is 1-2 in league play. Only SFA lost more of last season's scoring and the Islanders have the talent and leadership to inevitably figure it out. All due respect to my colleague Jake and his crush on UCA's Jordan Howard, the Islanders have the conference's best player in Rashawn Thomas and it isn't close.
TAMU-CC scores a huge percentage of their points in transition. They lead the SLC in steals and may do nothing better than converting those forced turnovers into points on the other end. With SFA's well-documented ball handling issues that bodes poorly for the Jacks.
The good - There are actually a number of things that favor SFA here. The Lumberjacks have been a pretty good defensive team all season and there's nothing they do better than shutting down opposing superstars. That's big against this team because there are really only two major scoring threats.
The Islanders lost a lot from last year's team and today they get almost half of their total scoring from two players. The entire offense is designed to give either Rashawn Thomas or Ehab Amin a chance and if those two can be taken out of the play, there really isn't a lot of depth behind them.
Like SFA, TAMU-CC is a different team on the road. While the Jacks have been able to eek out the close ones at home, the Islanders have struggled to put opponents away outside the confines of Corpus Christi, dropping each of their two SLC road games so far.
In conclusion - This game favors SFA's defense in a lot of ways. That means nothing if the offense can't put up some points. The Islanders are a good defensive team in their own right, but with so many of SFA's struggles being self-induced, that almost seems like a given. For a lot of the night, it's going to be TJ Holyfield versus the player he's capable of becoming in Thomas. I want to see TJ play with a Ty Charles-esque mean-streak, come out swinging, and stop passing up the shots.
I get a sense that this series will end up split, home team taking each, but I guess that means it's SFA's turn tonight.
Final Score: 65-59 Stephen F. Austin
Jake Rhodes: Coming off of back-to-back conference losses for the first time in five years, the Jacks are as desperate as anyone for a win. While picking SFA at home is always the safe bet, picking SFA at all right now feels like a reach to me.
This team can't shoot, can't protect the ball, and looks demoralized. Corpus has been as bad as SFA this season (at times), but with two teams slumping this hard, I'll take the more talented. Give me Islanders.
Final Score: 75-60 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Austin Fenoglio: There's no way around it. SFA has been struggling. Despite all of the talent this team has collected, there is an inability to make the easy shots. Mix in the turnovers and you get the mess that they are right now. The home court advantage will have to be there for the Jacks to have a chance. And while a chance may be there, it isn't enough for me to pick SFA.
Final Score: 78-74 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Colton Albritton-Felts: The Jacks are on their heels after coming up short in Abilene. They need a win in a bad way and if they are to ever reach their full potential, it needs to start tonight.
A win over a good Corpus team can instill some confidence in this group and would be a great foundation to build upon going deeper into conference play. There is no easy road from here. I believe the comfort of being back at in William R. Johnson in front of their home crowd and the excellent coaching and preparation that Keller and staff have done will be enough to edge out the Islanders and get SFA back on track.
Final Score: 56-50 Stephen F. Austin
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