SANTA CLARA, Calif. (Nov. 30, 2017) – The Northern Arizona men's basketball team dropped its seventh straight game to open the season as it was defeated 89-57 on the road by Santa Clara on Thursday night at the Leavey Center.
Santa Clara stormed out to a 31-7 advantage in the opening 9:51 of action and never looked back. The Broncos held the Lumberjacks to just a pair of field goals over the first 10:23 of the contest.
NAU committed 13 turnovers in the first half which translated to 25 points for Santa Clara. The 'Jacks finished the game with 20 miscues and lost the points off turnovers battle 31-9.
"The slow start cost us big time," NAU head coach
Jack Murphy said. "We didn't take care of the ball early and they ended the game with 31 points off our turnovers. You can't turn the ball over and expect to be a good defensive team. They are scoring in transition with wide open layups in the full court. We have to be able to take care of the basketball and that starts with our guards. We are going to have to get better there."
The defeat drops the Lumberjacks to 0-7 overall, which is tied for the most losses to start a season in program history, dating back to the 1951-52 season. Santa Clara snapped a five-game skid and moves to 2-5 on the season with the victory.
Junior forward
Corey Brown was a bright spot in the loss for NAU as he registered a career-high 14 points while shooting 7-of-10 from the field. Brown tallied 10 of 12 points for the 'Jacks over a 5:26 stretch late in the first half as he hit on 5-of-6 attempts during that span and added three rebounds.
Sophomore guard
JoJo Anderson totaled 13 points and shot 8-of-10 from the free throw line in recording his fifth straight game with double-figure points. Brown and Anderson's performances were a key in the NAU bench outscoring the Broncos' reserves 34-30.
Santa Clara was led in the win by junior guard KJ Feagin, who led a total of four Broncos who finished with double-digit points with 16 on 6-of-9 shooting, including a 4-of-5 clip from three-point range.
The Broncos shot 54.2 percent (32-of-59) from the field while limiting the Lumberjacks to a 39.1 percent (18-of-46) total.
Northern Arizona will conclude its current six-game road trip on Saturday, Dec. 2 against CSU Bakersfield in an 8 p.m. MST tip from the Icardo Center that will be aired live on ESPN3.
The 'Jacks-Roadrunners matchup will also be broadcast live on the Lumberjack Radio Network beginning with the pregame show at 7:30 p.m. MST.
