Photo by Joshua Weisberg

TUCSON, Ariz. – Despite a career-high 29 points from junior Cameron Jones, Northern Arizona lost to Arizona Sunday 87-70 Sunday at McKale Center. Arizona won its season opener, while the Lumberjacks dropped to 1-1 on the season.

NAU fell behind by 20 points in the first half as the Wildcats shot 58 percent from the floor, hitting four three-pointers and 11-of-13 free throws. The Lumberjacks shot 37 percent in the opening 20 minutes and had foul trouble.

“The first half got away from us. I thought our early foul trouble was the early culprit again,” said Head Coach Mike Adras. “We have to have a better lift off from our starters in the game.”

The Lumberjacks out-scored Arizona in the second half 39-36 and held the Wildcats to 38 percent from the floor and just 1-of-11 from beyond the arc.

“In the second half we played a much better half,” said Adras. “We held them to 36 points and if we had done that in the first half would have made for a better ball game.”

NAU cut the lead to 13 points at 79-66 with 3:22 left.

“I thought our guys battled and our transition was pretty good,” said Adras. “We did some nice things. Nobody wants to lose by 17 points but if we can improve from this I leave out of here feeling pretty good about ourselves. We cut it to 13 points in the second half but could not get it any closer. We would have liked to cut it under 10 points to give our guys that experience coming down the stretch.”

Jones was consistent throughout with 14 points in the first and 15 in the second, shooting 12-of-16 from the field with a 2-for-3 effort from beyond the arc and perfect night at the line in all three attempts. He broke his career-best of 28 points scored against Sacramento State last season. It was his seventh career game of 20 or more points.

“Cam has proven himself at this level,” said Adras. “I expect that and it doesn't matter who it is against.”

Redshirt freshman Gabe Rogers added 11 points for the Lumberjacks and junior Eric Platt added nine points off the bench. Johannsen had seven points and seven rebounds.

NAU returns to Flagstaff for a pair of non-conference games this week starting with Fresno State on Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. at the Rolle Activity Center. NAU hosts Pacific on Thursday.