March Madness Starts Now – First Up Northern Colorado in the Quarterfinals of the Big Sky Championship

/ March 10, 2015

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Northern Arizona University men's basketball makes its third straight appearance in the Big Sky Championship. NAU finished the season tied for third and will be the No. 4 seed in the upcoming tournament. The Lumberjacks will play No. 5 Northern Colorado on Thursday, March 12 at 4:30 p.m. PT/5:30 p.m. MT in Missoula, Mont. This year's host of the 2015 Big Sky Championship is the University of Montana at Dahlberg Arena.

The Lumberjacks (18-13, 13-5 BSC) and the Bears (15-14, 10-8 BSC) will face off for the third time this season and the second straight year in the quarterfinals of the tournament. Last season, NAU fell to the Bears 62-60 in Ogden, Utah. Senior guard Quinton Upshur has led NAU versus the Bears this season with an average of 22.0 points and 5.0 rebounds. NAU went to the free throw line 20 more times than the Bears and out-rebounded them 74 to 60. Both games were within five points. NAU won the first meeting 65-60, but fell on the road to UNC 76-74.

NAU had four players earn Big Sky honors. Junior forward Jordyn Martin was named the 2015 Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year. Sophomore guard Kris Yanku earned All-First Team honors, senior guard Quinton Upshur was voted to the second team, and senior guard Aaseem Dixon received honorable mention accolades.

Fans can download the Watch Big Sky app or log on to www.WatchBigSky.com for live video of games on Thursday and Friday. Lumberjack fans can listen to the game on HITS 106.1 FM, KNOT 100.9 FM & 1450 AM, and www.Hits106.gcmaz.com. Fans in the Phoenix area can tune into Money Radio 1510 AM & 99.3 FM. Mitch Strohman will be providing play-by-play, while Dave Brown will provide color commentary. Live stats can be found at www.Statbroadcast.com.

Information for Saturday's Championship Game

Saturday's championship game will be televised live on ESPNU starting at 7p.m. Mountain. Roxy

Bernstein and Corey Williams will call the action on ESPNU. It can also be viewed on Watch ESPN. The championship game will not be available on Watch Big Sky.

Saturday's championship game will air nationally through Westwood One Sports. It will be available on Westwood One radio stations across the country. A list of affiliates can be found on westwoodonesports.com. It will also be on Sirius Channel 93 and XM Channel 201. It can also be accessed on Westwood One Channels via the TuneIn mobile app, and will be streamed for free at westwoodonesports.com.

The 2015 NCAA Selection Show will air live on CBS on Sunday, March 17 at 6 p.m. Eastern, 5 p.m. Central, 4 p.m., Mountain, and 3 p.m. Pacific.

2015 Big Sky Championship

Host: The University of Montana

Missoula, Mont.

Dahlberg Arena

All times Mountain

Thursday – First Round

11 a.m. - No. 2 Eastern Washington vs. No. 7 Idaho

1:30 p.m. - No. 3 Sacramento State vs. No. 6 Portland State

5:30 p.m. - No. 4 Northern Arizona vs. No. 5 Northern Colorado

8 p.m. - No. 1 Montana vs. No. 8 Weber State

Friday-Semifinals

5:30 p.m. - Winner Game One vs. Winner Game Two

8 p.m. - Winner Game Three vs. Winner Game Four

Saturday – Championship

7 p.m. ESPNU – Semifinal Winners

Ways to purchase your tickets:

To purchase tickets in advance for the 2015 Big Sky Men's Basketball Championship call Kelli Coffman at 928-523-6792

Tickets can also be purchased the day of at the University of Montana box office.

Northern Arizona vs. The Field This Season (7-3)

vs. No. 1 Montana: 0-1 – The Griz won the only meeting between the two, 64-57

vs. No. 2 Eastern Washington: 1-0 – NAU beat EWU 73-69 at home

vs. No. 3 Sacramento State: 1-1 – The Hornets won in SAC, 78-73…NAU won in Flagstaff 70-68

vs. No. 5 Northern Colorado: 1-1 – NAU won 65-60 at home…UNC defeated NAU 76-74 in Greeley

vs. No. 6 Portland State: 2-0 – The 'Jacks swept PSU, 73-60 and 58-51.

vs. No. 7 Idaho: 1-0 – NAU beat Idaho 72-65 in their only meeting

vs. No. 8 Weber State: 1-1 – WSU won in Flag 74-65, NAU won in Ogden 61-54

Northern Arizona Facts

• Head coach Jack Murphy is his third season at NAU with a 44-51 overall record. Sweeping its last conference series, Murphy improved his Big Sky record to 33-25.

• NAU is making its 23rd appearance in the Big Sky Championship and looking to win its first title since 1999-00.

• NAU has a total of 18 wins; that's three more than NAU finished with a year ago and seven more than Murphy's first season. The 'Jacks are on a two-game winning streak. NAU has won six of its last seven and 10 of its last 12 games.

• Senior guard Gaellan Bewernick became NAU's all-time games played leader on Feb. 28. He's currently played in 122 games. The previous record was 119.

• NAU finished 11-2 at home; the most since 2010-11 season when the 'Jacks went 12-1 in the Walkup Skydome. The Lumberjacks are 6-10 in true road games and 1-1 in neutral games.

• The 'Jacks lead the league in rebounding margin (+9.2), rebounding offense (39.2), rebounding defense (30.0), offensive rebounds (12.8), offensive rebounding percentage (.361), defensive rebounding percentage (.783) and defensive rebounds (26.4). Jordyn Martin is sixth in rebounding (7.4) and Kris Yanku is tied for 15th with 5.5.

Scouting Northern Colorado

• Senior guard Tevin Svihovec leads UNC with 13.5 points per game. Shooting 44.3 percent from the floor, he's also dished out 82 assists and grabbed 26 steals.

• Northern Colorado is on a three-game winning streak.

• The Bears have not played a neutral contest all season.

• UNC averaged 75.4 points per game in conference play, but allowed 75.2 ppg by its opponents.

• The Bears have the second best field goal percentage in all games at 48.1, while they are shooting 71.6 percent from the free throw line.

• Svihovec is the lone Bear to garner conference accolades, as he earned honorable mention accolades.

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