Game Notes

RENO, Nev. – The Big Sky Men's Basketball Championship begins this Tuesday in Reno, Nev. No. 11 seed Northern Arizona will face No. 6 seed Eastern Washington in the night cap. Tip-off at the Reno Events Center is slated for 8pm PT/9pm MT. 

Ways to Tune In

Radio:   Flagstaff - HITS 106.1 FM

            Phoenix - Money Radio 1510 AM & 99.3 FM

            Prescott Area - 97.9 FM Eagle Rocks

            Window Rock/Ft. Defiance, Ariz. & Gallup, N.M. - KHAC 880 AM

            Northern AZ Healthcare Lumberjack Radio Network

            Mitch Strohman (Play-By-Play) Dave Brown (Color Analyst)

Audio Stream: www.hits106.gcmaz.com and www.979theeagle.gcmaz.com

Live Stats: www.NAUAthletics.com

Live Video: www.WatchBigSky.com

TV: N/A

Quick Steals

• The Lumberjacks NAU (5-24) will face Eastern Washington (16-14) for the third time this season and the fifth overall in Big Sky Championship play. The Eagles defeated NAU both times. Tuesday will be the first time since 2006 that the Lumberjacks and Eagles have played each other in the tournament.

• Last year, NAU beat Northern Colorado in the first round to advance the second round to face Montana. This will be the first time in three years that NAU and UNC will not play in the first round.

• Junior forward Ako Kaluna has been phenomenal for NAU leading the offensive and defensive charge with double-doubles in three out of the last four games.

• NAU will be making its 33rd appearance overall in the Big Sky Championships. It is 13-19 overall in tournament games and 2-6 in the championship game. NAU won the tournament title in 1999 and 2000.

Fastbreak Layups

• NAU will face Eastern Washington for the fifth time in Big Sky Tournament play, and the first time since 2006. The Lumberjacks and Eagles have not faced each other with both head coaches at the helm. The Eagles swept the season series versus the Lumberjacks.

• A win over Eastern Washington would equal a matchup versus No. 3 seed Idaho. The Vandals and the Lumberjacks split the series with both teams winning on their home court.

• Junior forward Ako Kaluna has registered 19 double figure scoring games. He has a team-high four double-doubles and has a pair of 20/10 games under his belt this season. On Feb. 27, Kaluna netted a career-high 28 points versus Southern Utah. The following week (Mar. 3), Kaluna grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds. He's scored in double figures four out of the last five games and has racked up four 20-plus point scoring games.

• Freshmen big men Corey Brown and Isaiah Thomas have combined for 19 starts this season. Brown has earned the start in nine of the last 11 contests, while Thomas has started the other two. Brown has a career-high 10 points, which he put up against Southern Utah on Jan. 9. His high of eight rebounds came against Idaho on Feb. 6. For Thomas, the Lumberjacks' game versus Eastern Washington on Feb. 4 was a career night for him. He notched eight points and six rebounds in the contest.

• True freshman guard Marcus DeBerry is tied for the third-most starts this season with 22. He's also one of five players that have appeared in every game this season. He's averaging 7.6 points and 2.7 rebounds per game with a career-high of 19 points versus Montana on Dec. 31. DeBerry ranks in the top 10 in the Big Sky in minutes played in conference games.

• Redshirt freshman guard Torry Johnson is third on the team in scoring at 9.5 points per game. He's recorded 14 double figure scoring games and put up a career-high 21 points on Feb. 11 at Montana State.

Round One – Eastern Washington

• Both times NAU and Eastern Washington played this season, the Lumberjacks had four players score in double figures.

• Eastern Washington won the rebounding battle and the points in the paint. The key for NAU will be to stop Bogdan Bliznyuk, although not EWU's top player, he's posted a triple-double and double-double versus NAU in each outing.

• The Lumberjacks cannot afford to get out to a slow start versus EWU, because the Eagles have too many options on offense to take advantage of any NAU bumps that may arise.

Got Next - Idaho

• NAU made less field goals than Idaho in both outings, but it made more trips to the free throw line than the Vandals.

• The Lumberjacks led by two points at the half in the second outing, while both teams scored the same amount of points in the second half for NAU to take the win.

• The benches for both teams were very productive, but NAU must find a way to keep the Vandals out of the paint if they plan to come away with the win.

• The Vandals can't seem to control the ball well as it had 17 and 19 turnovers versus NAU.