Opening round preview: SFA's disruptive defense, shooting could prove tough

Texas Tech and Stephen F. Austin will face off in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night in Dallas, a 14 vs. 3 seed matchup that could sneakily be one of the best games in the first two days of the tournament.

So, what defines this SFA team, and how do they matchup with Texas Tech? Let's take a closer look.

Head coach: Kyle Keller

Record: 28-6 (14-4 Southland Conference)

RPI Rank: 104

Notable wins: Rice, LSU, Nicholls (x2)

Notable losses: SE Louisiana, Central Arkansas, Missouri, Lamar, Mississippi State

Offensive efficiency: 106th

Defensive efficiency: 8th

Rebounding margin: +3.9 (56th)

Top Scorer: G Shannon Bogues, 15.4 PPG

Top Rebounder: F TJ Holyfield, 6.4 RPG

Leader in Assists: G Aaron Augustin, 3.4 APG

Jr. F TJ Holyfield (6-8, 220) - 13 PPG, 6.3 RPG - Holyfield was a second-team All-Southland Conference player for the second consecutive season this spring. He's SFA's best big man in the paint. He plays with a ton of effort, and his 81 offensive rebounds on the year are plenty of proof. Holyfield primarily plays inside, but he can be a threat to shoot it from three on occasion. He's SFA's primary shot blocker as well, blocking 45 in 34 games this season. Holyfield is an underrated hustle forward for the Jacks. He will turn it over at a high rate, however. In fact, he averages 2.75 per game.

Sr. F Leon Gilmore (6-7, 220) - 9.3 PPG, 4.9 RPG - Gilmore is the other wing/forward for SFA in the starting lineup. He's much less of an outside shooting threat than Holyfield, however, and is just a 65 percent free throw shooter. He's second on the team in rebounds with 124 on the year. However, the most interesting thing about Gilmore? He always plays his best basketball in March. At SFA, the senior's numbers spike in the postseason. His points per game jump to 17.3, and his rebounding takes a tick up to 7.5 per contest, shooting 60 percent from the field. Some players just do better under pressure, and Gilmore is one of them.

Sr. G Ivan Canete (6-4, 180) - 9.4 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 3.03 APG- Canete has started every game over the last two seasons for the Lumberjacks. A long guard at the mid-major level, Canete is a three point specialist that can knock down shots, even with a hand in his face. He's second on the team in 3 point makes with 48 and shoots 41.7 percent behind the arc. He's also the team's leading assist man as a great disher.

So. G/W/F Kevon Harris (6-6, 225) - 14.6 PPG, 5.4 RPG - Harris was a second team All-Southland team member, and he is the most versatile weapon on the floor for SFA. He's an absolute sharpshooter on the outside, making 43 percent of his threes while making a team leading 57 from behind the arc. On top of that he can drive it inside as well, as 98 of his total 155 total field goal makes were inside the three point line, whether on a jumper or a shot at the rim. On top of that, Harris is a hustle rebounder, as he gathers in the second most per game of anyone on the team. He has 70 offensive rebounds on the season, too. Harris is a jack-of-all-trades player that I'm sure created a ton of mismatch nightmares in the Southland Conference for opposing coaches.

Sr. G Ty Charles (6-5, 210) - 8 PPG, 4.7 RPG - Charles is a seasoned veteran for the Lumberjacks, though he gets the fewest minutes of any of the starters at 23 per game. He's a solid player that turns it over the least of any of SFA's significant contributors.

Jr. G Shannon Bogues (6-2, 185) - 15.4 PPG, 2.4 RPG - You're probably curious as to why I've put a sixth starter on the boards here in a five man sport. That's because Bogues was a second team all-conference player that led SFA in scoring and was unarguably their best player this season. SFA decides to bring him off the bench as a curious decision. He averages the third most minutes on the team as well. He's a true three level scorer that's extremely quick, has great handles, and makes an impressive 50 percent of his shots as a guard. The offense runs through Bogues. There's no doubt about it.

-Kyle Keller is in his second season as the head coach at Stephen F. Austin following Brad Underwood's stint as the head coach of the Lumberjacks. Before he became the head man at SFA, Keller was an assistant under Billy Kennedy at Texas A&M. Before he was an assistant for the Aggies, Keller spent 12 years in the Big 12 working for Eddie Sutton at Oklahoma State and Bill Self at Kansas. As far as experience and pedigree go, Keller has one of the best resumes - and likely most underrated - in college basketball. Like Chris Beard, Keller also spent time as a head coach at the junior college level, specifically at Tyler Junior College.

-Keller kept much of Brad Underwood's halfcourt, pressure and disruption-based defense intact at SFA. He's certainly tweaked it a bit to his style, but it's very similar to what Underwood ran at SFA and Oklahoma State.

-The Lumberjacks are no stranger to the 14 seed. They toppled 3 seed West Virginia in this exact same spot back in 2016 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

-Tech and SFA have two common opponents on the year: Rice and Abilene Christian. The Jacks defeated ACU 76-66 and Rice 81-62. The Red Raiders beat them 74-47 and 73-53 respectively.

-Only nine teams have won at least 25 games in five of the last six college basketball seasons. SFA is one of them.

-SFA leads the Southland Conference this season in field goal percentage, scoring margin, steals per game, three point field goal percentage, total steals, turnover margin, turnovers forced per game, and win percentage.

Much like the Red Raiders, the Lumberjacks are defined by their defense, first and foremost. They're ranked 8th in college basketball in defensive efficiency, and they force the most turnovers per game of any team in the country with a whopping 20 per contest.

So, how do they do it? Well, it's a system that's best summed up as disruptive, as in it's all about making the opponent as uncomfortable as possible in their half court offense. They do this by staying relentless once you reach the half court, loving to trap ball screens, clog up short passing lanes with aggressive attempts at deflections, and always pestering the ball handler with their hands, trying to get steals and turnovers.

It's a defense that's focused on disruption above all. They want to take you out of whatever you like to do, and they want to get you flustered while doing it.

The Lumberjacks guard on-ball as well as the Red Raiders do, and they play with relentless effort and intensity when guarding. Think about mixing what West Virginia does with the press and their physicality - but in the half court - and mix it with how the Red Raiders play with relentless effort and intensity, stopping easy passes and creating a clamp-down three point defense that's also focused on stopping guards from driving inside.

Disruption and chaos, again, is the name of the game.

Offensively, the Lumberjacks play selflessly and with great effort. Their guards are very quick, and they have a number of great shooters, particularly Harris, Bogues, and Canete. They can all knock down shots while guarded, and Bogues and Harris can take it inside. The versatility of the offense is something to watch out for.

Also, much like Oklahoma State does this year, SFA is fantastic in transition on offense. If you don't get set up defensively after a missed shot, they're going to make you pay with an attempt at a quick bucket. They're good at it, too.

While SFA's disruption defense earns them boatloads of turnovers, they also happen to turn it over a ton themselves, 16 times a game in fact. They simply give it away way, way too much, and it almost negates their gains on defense as a result.

The Lumberjacks also foul the second most of any team in college basketball. Yes, you read that right. SFA commits 22 fouls per game, easily putting other teams in the double bonus in both halves on average.

SFA's also below average at the charity stripe. They make just 70 percent of their free throws, putting them at 211th in the country in the category.

While they have good sized-guards, the team from Nacogdoches does not start a player taller than 6-8. They simply don't have an effective true big on the roster.

Something else worth monitoring: SFA will allow backdoor cuts and curl screens to get through for easy baskets at times. Keenan Evans just so happened to score this way a handful of times against West Virginia. Keep this in mind on Thursday.

This game can be summed up pretty bluntly: It's gonna be a rock fight. These two teams will get after one another defensively, limiting opportunities and hoping to create turnovers and mistakes in the process. On the offensive end, they'll both be going for efficiency, smart shots, well-spread scoring, and balance between shooting it outside while driving it to the lane.

In many ways, while they may do some things differently schematically, the goals are fairly similar for both teams.

However, I think a few things play into the Red Raiders' favor. First, while SFA gets a boatload of turnovers defensively, Texas Tech is one of the better teams in college basketball at limiting turnovers. Tech also uses a handful of different ball handlers, so SFA can't focus in on one player to pester, pick at, and pressure defensively to try and force turnovers. This is your immovable object meets unstoppable force matchup in the game. Personally? I'd guess Tech turns it over some, but not as much as SFA would like.

Tech's also significantly longer and more athletic than SFA. Yes, the heights might be similar at a number of spots, but the wingspan and verticality the Red Raiders bring to the table are things SFA simply does not have. The Lumberjacks cannot play around the rim like Tech does as a whole.

With the outrageous rate that SFA turns it over, Tech has shown this season that they'll get out in transition and blow up the bucket at the other end when opponents can't keep up with them in the open court. This will be the first time since Big 12 play began where Tech has a real advantage here.

And while SFA will try to limit the Red Raiders from driving it to the bucket, as it's one of their big priorities defensively, the rate at which they foul could pose a huge issue for them in a game they can't afford to have their best players foul out. If Keenan Evans and Tech's guards start getting ultra-aggressive with driving it, Tech could find themselves at the free throw line a ton.

In fact, I'll make a bold prediction right now: Keenan Evans gets to the free throw line 15 times. Now, Tech will have to make those free throws, but they're likely to get a lot of opportunities in this game.

The things you worry about here if you're the Red Raiders are sloppy play in the halfcourt offensively paired with a hot day of shooting behind the arc for SFA. The Lumberjacks have shooters that can light it up when they get going, and if Tech comes out lackadaisical with the ball in their hands, the possession differential and shot opportunities could heavily favor SFA.

IN SUMMARY: Tech needs to play clean basketball on offense, be aggressive in driving it to try to get to the free throw line, and limit SFA's shooters around the perimeter, relying on their athleticism, length, and effort to get a win.