NAU Basketball Hosts Montana State on Saturday Night at the Skydome
Men's Basketball / December 29, 2017
GAME NOTES
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GIVEAWAYS
- NAU Bearded Beanies to children
- NAU Air Fresheners for adults
NAU-MONTANA STATE STORY LINES
• Northern Arizona will close out its current two-game homestand to open the Big Sky Conference schedule on Saturday when it plays host to Montana State at the Skydome in Flagstaff. The game will be televised live on Phoenix's CW6 and also aired live on the Lumberjack Radio Network.
• NAU leads the all-time series with Montana State 51-46 and owns a 33-14 mark against the Bobcats in games played in Flagstaff entering Saturday's clash.
• This marks the second consecutive game that the 'Jacks have hosted the Bobcats in Flagstaff as NAU posted a 69-63 victory over Montana State on Feb. 9, 2017 in the most recent meetings between the programs.
• NAU has three of the last four meetings overall against Montana State in games played at home. The last time the Lumberjacks traveled to Bozeman was Feb. 11, 2016 when they suffered a 101-58 setback.
• The 'Jacks own an all-time record of 4-6 against Montana State in the
Jack Murphy era, including a 3-2 mark at home.
• Montana State enters Saturday's game 8-6 overall and has won two of its last three games overall. The Bobcats opened the Big Sky slate with a 104-99 win over Southern Utah on Thursday evening in Cedar City behind 36 points from junior Tyler Hall. He shot 12-of-19 from the field, including 8-of-14 from beyond the three point arc in the win over the Thunderbirds.
• Hall is a prospect for early entry into the 2018 NBA Draft and is already the Bobcats career leader in three-point field goals.
• The Lumberjacks lost their fourth straight Big Sky Conference opener on Thursday night vs. Montana by a 87-69 margin. NAU dropped a 93-80 decision at home vs. Southern Utah last season, lost in double overtime by a 90-84 margin to Montana in 2015-16 and 78-73 at Sacramento State in 2014-15.
• NAU's last victory in a Big Sky opener came during the 2013-14 campaign when it opened the league portion of the schedule with a 73-65 victory at Montana.
• Thursday's Big Sky opener at the Skydome vs. Montana represented the third consecutive season that the Lumberjacks have opened the conference schedule at home.
• Northern Arizona is currently 3-11 overall on the season and played the 78th-most difficult non-conference schedule in the nation (out of 351 teams) according to the Sagarin Ratings.
• In total, the 'Jacks played 10 of their 13 non-conference games away from home.
• Northern Arizona finished the 2016-17 season with a 9-23 overall record and 6-12 mark in Big Sky play (10th place).
• The Lumberjacks have led at halftime four times this season - vs. Embry-Riddle (Nov. 13), UC Irvine (Nov. 24), San Diego Christian (Dec. 6) and at Jacksonville (Dec. 20) and own a 2-2 mark in those contests.
• NAU is a new look squad this season, with nine returners and eight newcomers to the program, including a pair of NCAA Division I transfers in
Gino Littles (UT San Antonio) and
Malcolm Allen (Stanford).
NAU QUICK LOOKS
- Sophomore JoJo Anderson scored a career-high 31 points and connected on the second-most free throws in program history to lead the Northern Arizona University men's basketball team in an 87-69 loss to Montana on Thursday night in the Big Sky Conference opener for both teams at the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff.
- Anderson has registered 26 or more points in three of the last four games overall and has notched a team-best 10 double-digit scoring efforts this season, including 10 of the last 12 games overall.
- Anderson has eclipsed his career-best scoring mark in two of the last three games overall with 31 vs. Montana and 30 vs. South Dakota.
- Anderson made 17-of-19 attempts from the free throw line in the Dec. 28 loss to Montana. The 17 connections tied for the second-most in program history, matching Mark Champagne (1970-71 vs. Southern Colorado) and Wayne See (1948-49 vs. Arizona State), who also accomplished the feat.
- The 19 attempts vs. Montana also earned Anderson a spot in the 'Jacks single-game annals, as they represented the third-most in NAU history, tying Bill Lewis, who also had 19 shots from the charity stripe in 1952-53 vs. Arizona.
- Junior Isaiah Thomas paced the 'Jacks defensively vs. Montana on Dec. 28 as he swatted away a career-high five shots. Thomas has totaled nine blocks over the past two games after notching six in the previous 12 contests.
- Brooks DeBisschop is only the second NAU player this season to post a double-double following a 13 point and 13 rebounds effort at South Florida on Dec. 18. He joins Isaiah Thomas, who tallied double-doubles in back-to-back games against CSU Bakersfield and San Diego Christian.
- NAU is being outscored by its opponents 80.1-66.1 over the first 14 games this season.
- The Lumberjacks' 16-0 run in the second half of its Dec. 6 win over San Diego Christian marked their largest of the season to date.
- The win over San Diego Christian on Dec. 6 allowed the 'Jacks to post back-to-back wins for the first time since it defeated Northern Colorado and North Dakota in consecutive contests on Jan. 26 and 28, 2017.
BIG SKY OPENERS
- The Lumberjacks own a 22-26 all-time record in Big Sky openers entering 2017-18.
- Since the 2000-01 season, NAU has gone 8-10 in conference openers.
LUMBERJACKS ARE ROAD WARRIORS
- Through 13 games away from home this season, NAU Basketball has amassed a total of:
- 13,868 total travel miles
- 2,231 bus miles
- 11,637 air miles
INJURY REPORT
- Senior Malcolm Allen suffered a broken foot in the Nov. 17 game against Arizona State and is out indefinitely.
THE DOME IS OUR HOME
- NAU plays its games in the Walkup Skydome and owns a combined mark of 41-28 over the last six-plus seasons.
Skydome Over the Last Six-Plus Seasons:
2017-18: 0-1
2016-17: 5-7
2015-16: 3-9
2014-15: 14-2
2013-14: 9-4
2012-13: 6-6
2011-12: 4-9
THREE-POINT STREAK
- NAU has connected on at least one 3-pointer in 144 consecutive games.
- The last time NAU did not make a 3-pointer was on Nov. 29, 2013, versus CSU Bakersfield. The Lumberjacks finished that game 0-for-11 from beyond the arc.
GETTING TO THE FREE THROW LINE
- NAU leads the Big Sky Conference in both free throws made (253) and attempts (348) through the first 14 games of the 2017-18 season.
- The 'Jacks also rank eighth nationally in free throw attempts and sixth in made shots from the charity stripe entering Saturday's meeting with Montana State.
- Sophomore JoJo Anderson leads the Big Sky and ranks 10th nationally with 104 free throw attempts.
- Anderson also ranks first in the Big Sky in free throws made with 82 connections from the charity stripe. That number ranks 12th nationally.
78th-TOUGHEST NON-CONFERNECE SCHEDULE IN NATION
- According to the most recent Sagarin Ratings (as of Dec. 25) the Lumberjacks have played the 78th-toughest non-conference schedule in the nation.
- NAU faced a total of two teams ranked among Sagarin's top 25 nationally and three in the top 50 (out of 351 teams overall) during the non-league slate.
AMONG BIG SKY LEADERS
- NAU has forced its opponents into an average of 14.9 turnovers per game this season, which ranks fith-best in the Big Sky Conference.
- The Lumberjacks have pulled down an average of 10.6 offensive rebounds per game, which sits fourth-best among Big Sky leaders.
NAU POSTS ROAD WIN AT JACKSONVILLE (12/20/17)
- Sophomore JoJo Anderson rung up 26 points as the Northern Arizona snapped a three-game skid with an 83-72 road win at Jacksonville on Dec. 20.
- The Lumberjacks led by as many as 23 points (their largest lead in any game this season) in the Dec. 20 win at Jacksonville and shot a season-best 60.8 clip from the field as a season-high four players finished with double-figure points.
- The 60.8 field goal percentage marked the highest by the ' Jacks since notching a 56.6% (30-53) clip at Southern Utah (1-31-15).
- The last time NAU had four or more players reach double-figures in the same game was on March 2, 2017 vs. Idaho when five players accomplished the feat.
