SAN ANTONIO – Striving for forty minutes of consistent play, coping with a season-long rash of injuries, and hoping to please a large "Operation Sellout" crowd as well as a national television audience -- the University of the Incarnate Word men's basketball team takes on pre-season Southland Conference favorite Stephen F. Austin on Saturday afternoon. Tipoff time is 3:30 p.m. (CT) in the second game of a doubleheader at the McDermott Center on campus.
UIW's women's team plays the Lady Jacks of SFA in the 1 p.m. first game. Both contests will be televised by ESPN3, with David Saltzman doing the play by play and Van Chancellor providing the analysis.
THE MATCHUP
UIW, (6-11, 1-3) will face one of the league's most talented teams while trying to play as well for an entire game as it has during the first half of recent matches. During Wednesday night's loss to Central Arkansas, the Cardinals trailed by only four at halftime. In Huntsville one week ago, UIW got ahead of league-leading Sam Houston by nine points early in the game before eventually falling.
First-year Cardinal coach Dr. Carson Cunningham's squad will try to duplicate its Jan. 5 effort, when it came storming back from a 13-point deficit to defeat Nicholls, 65-58, using hot shooting from Antoine Smith Jr. and Charles Brown III. They scored 17 points each.
SFA, chosen by league sports information directors to win the Southland, has had some consistency concerns of its own. After an inspired effort against SEC title challenger Alabama and a win over predicted second-place Southeastern, the Lumberjacks have lost their last three conference games. SFA, 8-8 overall and 1-3 in the SLC, dropped a 68-61 decision at New Orleans Wednesday.
Coach Kyle Keller, in his third year at SFA, has three players averaging in double figures: Shannon Bogues (17.3), Kevon Harris (14.8) and Davonte Fitzgerald (11.3).
INJURY BUG
Beginning their season with 10 games in 19 days, the Cardinals were challenged by a series of injuries that allowed the team to dress out only 10 of its 15 roster players. Approaching the end of the non-conference schedule that concluded with the Dec. 19 game against DePaul, UIW was able to put only eight healthy players on the floor. Over the Christmas break, UIW's players took advantage of the time off in order to let injuries heal. Unfortunately, as previously sidelined players became available, others fell victim to the injury bug. Eight played Wednesday against Central Arkansas, but the good news was the return of freshman guard Romello Wilbert, who had not seen action since the fourth game of the season. He snagged five rebounds.
CARDINALS MAINTAIN LEAD AT THE LINE
Free throw shooting has been a season-long positive for UIW. The Cardinals hit 11 for 13 from the line Wednesday, and that boosted their NCAA Division I-leading team free throw percentage to 80.9 percent, a 1.1-percent lead over second place Hofstra.
Individually, sophomore Christian Peevy is the nation's 10th-ranked free throw shooter, having made 59 out of 66 shots for a percentage of 90.9. Four other Cardinals, Jorden Kite (100), Augustine Ene (87.1), Antoine Smith Jr. (85.7), and Charles Brown III (82.4) are hitting more than four of five free throws, but do not qualify for an individual ranking because they do not meet the required number of makes (2.5 times the number of games played). However, their totals combine to enhance the team's ranking.
AUGUSTINE ENE HAS HIS DAY
Sophomore wing Augustine Ene tossed in 18 points, which included a perfect six for six at the charity stripe, to lead all Cardinal scorers Wednesday night against Central Arkansas. That matched his season and career bests in each category. Earlier this year, Ene also scored 18 in a game against Florida Atlantic.
CARUSO STEPS UP
Freshman guard Jordan Caruso, who hails from the New York City borough of Staten Island, had a career day Wednesday. Playing a season-high 31 minutes, he scored 11 points, made five of seven field goals, and recorded his first collegiate three pointer. His hustle netted five rebounds.
