LAS VEGAS, Nev. (Nov. 24, 2017) – The Northern Arizona men's basketball team suffered a 77-71 loss to UC Irvine in its final game at the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational on Friday afternoon at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
The Lumberjacks were defeated despite leading by as many as 13 points as the Anteaters outscored NAU 46-34 over the final 20 minutes of regulation and held the 'Jacks without a field goal for an 11:26 stretch in the second half.
The loss marks the Lumberjacks sixth straight to start the season as they fall to 0-6 overall. UC Irvine moves to 3-4 following the victory.
Sophomore
Chris Bowling led the attack for the Lumberjacks with a career-high 26 points, while shooting a solid 10-of-15 overall, including a 4-of-8 clip from three-point range. Fellow sophomore
JoJo Anderson netted 19 points in the win, his fourth consecutive game in double digits and shot 5-of-10 overall, 7-of-8 from the free throw line and 2-of-4 from beyond the arc.
The Lumberjacks also enjoyed their best performance from the charity stripe to date this season as they connected on 19-of-23 attempts. NAU pulled down 13 offensive rebounds and converted them into 17 second-chance points.
Isaiah Thomas led the 'Jacks on the boards with a game-high nine rebounds.
"It was a quick turnaround, we didn't have a lot of time to prepare for them and they didn't have a lot of time to prepare for us," NAU head coach
Jack Murphy said. "That is a really good program we played today. I thought we really took the fight to them in the first half, which is what we wanted to do."
"Good programs tend to fight back and have a heart of a champion," Murphy added. "They have won the Big West three of the last five years and there is reason for that, but our guys didn't back down either. It got to be an eight-point game and we could have folded up and lost the game by 15, but we went right back and forth and made some big shots, executed some plays late and I am sure there will be a lot of positives to watch on the film."
"It is just tough when get to this time of the year and you don't have a win. You are trying to feed the guys on the process of the year and the whole picture. We all want to see a win, but the team is getting better and I saw a lot of improvement from yesterday to today."
The Lumberjacks got off to a fast start as they opened with a 10-0 advantage by making a pair of three-pointers over the initial 2:20 of the contest. NAU led by as many as 13 with 10:32 remaining in the first half and connected on 13-of-31 first half field goal attempts for a 41.9 shooting percentage. The 'Jacks went into intermission holding a 37-31 advantage.
UC Irvine methodically crept back into the game after halftime as it shot 51.7 percent (15-of-29) from the field in the final 20 minutes and were a perfect 5-of-5 from the field to close out the game.
The Anteaters outscored the Lumberjacks 34-18 in the paint for the game and held a 12-0 edge in fast break points. The UC Irvine bench posted 41 points, while the NAU reserves were limited to 26.
Northern Arizona will return to action on Thursday, Nov. 30 when it travels to face West Coast Conference member Santa Clara in an 8 p.m. MST tip from the Leavey Center.
The 'Jacks-Broncos matchup will be broadcast live on the Lumberjack Radio Network beginning with the pregame show at 7:30 p.m. MST.
