Feb. 21, 2007

Texas State ended a six-game losing streak and won a Southland Conference road game for the first time since 2005 last Saturday when the Bobcats posted a 77-65 win at Texas-San Antonio. Now following its first road win of the season which came in front of a vocal, homecoming crowd in San Antonio, the `Cats continue a road swing at Stephen F. Austin Thursday.

Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. in William R. Johnson Coliseum. The game will be broadcast by KTSW-FM 89.9 and will be available on Bobcat All-Access at txstatebobcats.com.

The Lumberjacks (14-10, 7-5) have not played since a Valentine's Day when they suffered a 63-51 road loss at Sam Houston State. The last time Texas State played SFA, the Lumberjacks were in the midst of winning eight games during a nine-contest stretch. Now, the Jacks have lost their last two and four of their last five, including a 48-45 loss at UTSA earlier this month.

Texas State (9-17, 4-9) is still in the hunt for a slot in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Southland Conference Tournament but with Texas-Arlington in eighth place overall in the league at 6-7 and Nicholls State in ninth at 5-7, the Bobcats are currently on the outside looking with three games to play.

Stephen F. Austin is in position to make the SLC Tournament and with a strong finish could be one of the top four seeds at next month's tourney.

Led by Josh Alexander and Matt Kingsley's 13.0 scoring averages, SFA is averaging 66.9 points per game and ranks third in the conference with a +6.4 scoring margin. Alexander also leads the Lumberjacks in rebounding at 5.2 per game and three-pointers made at 56-of-130 (.431).

As a team, SFA ranks third in the league in both three-point shooting and three-point shooting defense. While Alexander is shooting 43 percent from behind the arc, Gerald Fonzie has connected on 22-of-42 three-pointers (22-of-49).

SFA has shot a strong percent from three-point range but ranks in the bottom third of the league in three-pointers made at 5.38 per game. Texas State, on the other hand, has let the three-point attempts rain down this season (595 in 26 games). Only Nicholls State (672) and Sam Houston State (610) have taken more three-point attempts. Nicholls also leads the league in three-pointers made at 8.42 made per game while the Bobcats are second at 8.38 per game. Heading into the week, Texas State ranks 27th nationally in three-pointers made.

Texas State junior Brent Holder ranks sixth in the Southland Conference, averaging 2.23 three-pointers per game this season. During the month of February, Holder has been the Bobcats' leading scorer, averaging 15.3 points an outing. He has shot 50 percent from the field and made 18-of-38 three-pointers during the five-game stretch. The Freeport, Ill., native started the month by hitting 6-of-11 three-pointers against Texas-Arlington then made four threes in each of the Bobcats' next two outings.

While Brandon Bush continues to lead the Bobcats in scoring this season, junior Chris Agwumaro has come on strong during the second half of the season. Last week Agwumaro scored a career-high 22 points in the Bobcats' loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi then scored a game-high 19 points in the UTSA win. Against the Roadrunners, he was 5-for-7 from the field and knocked down 9-of-10 free throws.

The last time Texas State played Stephen F. Austin, the Lumberjacks shot 65.2 percent from the field against Texas State. It was the highest shooting percentage by a Texas State opponent this season. The Bobcats, on the other hand, connected on 37 percent of its shots.

Seven Southland Conference opponents have shot better than 50 percent against the Bobcats this season. Texas State's .509 defensive field goal percentage ranks last in the SLC.

Following Thursday's game at SFA, Texas State plays its final home game Saturday when the Bobcats play host to Sam Houston State. Tip-off for Saturday's game is 4 p.m.