BROOKLYN– The Stephen F. Austin University beat West Virginia at its own game here Friday night.

The 14th-seeded Lumberjacks from Nacogdoches, Tex. shoved the third seeded Mountaineers from the Big 12 out of the NCAA Tournament, pressuring West Virginia from the Big 12 into 22 turnovers and turned them into 29 points here Friday night during a 70-56 first round victory at the Barclays Center.

SFA (28-5), which advanced to play sixth-seed Notre Dame in a second round game here Sunday, never allowed West Virginia to efficiently run its offense, forcing the Mountaineers –who shot just over 30 percent– into six straight turnovers at one point with physical in your face defense. The Lumberjacks only shot 30 percent themselves, but got to the line a staggering 39 times, taking advantage West Virginia I(26-9) tends to foul a lot.

One more example of an under seeded underdog who outplayed a favorite in all facets of the game.

“It hurts,” West Virginia guard Esa Ahmad said. “We thought we could take it all the way but we didn’t take it seriously and that’s what happens.”
It’s time to start taking the Lumberjacks, who have won 21 straight games, and their star Thomas Walkup seriously.

The 6-4 senior small forward, who is the two-time Southland Conference player of the year, took “Press Virginia” apart, ripping the Mountaineers for 33 points on just 15 shots, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals. Walkup got to the the line 20 times. He made 19, including two to make it 60-47 with 5:15 left in the second half after West Virginia coach Bob Huggins complaints to the officials drew a technical foul on the West Virginia bench.

Later, with S.F. Austin leading by 13 points in the final two minutes, Walkup held the ball near the mid-court, turned and faced up against Williams, crossing him over twice before burying a pull up three pointer to lock up the game. Then, he punctuated the play with an exclamation point when he walked back down court with his tongue out
Afterwards, inquiring minds in the media wanted to know if this was Walkup’s best game ever.

“I’ll answer that,” S.F. Austin coach Brad Underwood said. “No. It was a doggone good one, though. But, no I’ve seen him play better. Can’t be too satisfied.”

“Anything to add to that Thomas,” the moderator asked.

“Yes,” Walkup said, admitted.

Walkup, who is from Pasadena, Tex. is known for the lucky beard he started growing in November that makes him look as if he could be the S.F. Austin mascot. “We’ve been winning so I kept it for that reason,” he admitted.

Walkup was a point guard at Deer Park, Tex. High. He chose S.F. Austin over Houston Baptist and Air Force. He also looked at Texas A & M, where his older brother Nathan played. He was a starter for S.F. Austin in 2014 when the Lumberjacks won their first NCAA game ever, defeating Virginia Tech, 77-75, in overtime. But this year’s team are better.
“This is probably the most talented team I’ve ever played on,” Walkup said. “We have tremendous ability and are very explosive at times. And, on the other side of the ball, we guard the heck out of people. It’s a dangerous combination.

”I think people realize we are the real deal. A couple of years ago, when we got an NCAA wijn, they thought it was almost a fluke. But I think now people are starting to realize that SFA is a really strong basketball program and we are really starting to make a name for ourselves.”

The Lumberjacks certainly left a huge impression with the way they handled West Virginia’s press, committing just seven turnovers. “In practice we had worked on the presss with seven people,” guard Clyde Geffrard said. “So our coach, he harped on no over the top passes, but low passes because they were real long. Every time we were doing it, every time we turned it over coach would get all over us. So I said, I’m not going to get yelled at in this game on national television. So I made sure I made all low passes.”