NAU Hoops Heads to Sunshine State to Close Out Non-Conference Schedule
Men's Basketball / December 17, 2017
NAU GAME NOTES - AT JACKSONVILLE
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Dec. 17, 2017) - The Northern Arizona men's basketball team will travel to the Sunshine State this week for its final two non-conference games of the season.
The Lumberjacks will open the two-game road trip with a game at South Florida on Monday, Dec. 18 beginning at 5 p.m. MST from the Sun Dome in Tampa. NAU will then head to the east coast of Florida for a matchup with Jacksonville on Wednesday, Dec. 20 in a 5 p.m. tip at Swisher Gymnasium.
Both of the 'Jacks games in Florida this week will be aired live on the Lumberjack Radio Network with Anthony DeFazio on the call, beginning with the pregame show at 4:30 p.m. MST. Wednesday's meeting with Jacksonville will also be broadcast live on ESPN3.
Northern Arizona will be meeting USF for the first time when the teams square off on Monday night. The 'Jacks have met Jacksonville once previously in their history, with NAU holding a 1-0 edge in the series by virtue of a 65-64 victory on Nov. 30, 1984 in a game played in Albuquerque, N.M.
This week's trip will mark only the third time in program history that Northern Arizona has traveled to Florida and the first since it played in the Emerald Coast Classic at Fort Walton Beach during the 2014-15 season. The 'Jacks also ventured to the Sunshine State on Nov. 14, 1998 when they to traveled to Miami to play Florida International.
NAU will be playing its ninth and 10
th non-conference games on the road out of 13 overall when it takes on the Bulls and Dolphins this week. The Lumberjacks have played the 26th
_most difficult schedule in the nation (out of 351 teams) over the first 11 games of the season according to the latest edition of the Sagarin Ratings (Dec. 17).
The Lumberjacks are fresh off a 90-77 loss to South Dakota on Dec. 14 which saw sophomore
JoJo Anderson drop a career-high 30 points on the Coyotes, while shooting 5-of-10 from three point range and an 11-of-13 clip from the free throw line. The performance marked the first 30-plus scoring effort by an NAU player since Mike Green notched 31 against Northern Colorado on Jan. 7, 2017. It also represented the seventh time over the last nine contests that Anderson has registered double-figure points.
In addition, the 54 points scored by the Lumberjacks in the second half marked the most they have recorded in any half of action since totaling 53 vs. North Dakota on Feb. 7, 2015 - a span of 89 games.
USF enters Monday's meeting with the 'Jacks with an overall record of 5-6 and has dropped four of its last five games overall. The Bulls did post an 83-63 victory over Bethune-Cookman in their most recent action on Thursday, Dec. 14 in Tampa.
Jacksonville dropped an 83-74 decision on the road at South Carolina State on Saturday, Dec. 16 and own a 4-8 overall mark heading into Wednesday's meeting with NAU. The Dolphins have lost three of their last four games overall.
The Lumberjacks will be looking to post their first road win of the season since they defeated CSU Bakersfield on Dec. 2 by a 60-62 margin. Following this week's two-game roadswing through Florida, the 'Jacks will enjoy a seven-day break for the holidays before returning to the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome to open Big Sky Conference play against Montana on Thursday, Dec. 28 and Montana State on Saturday, Dec. 30.
