FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Jan. 20, 2018) – Junior
Torry Johnson scored a career-best 25 points and sophomore
Brooks DeBisschop recorded his second double-double of the season with 10 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Northern Arizona men's basketball team in an 84-80 loss against Idaho on Saturday evening at the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff.
The back-and-forth affair featured seven lead changes and saw NAU lead by as many as eight points at 40-32 with 19:34 left in the second half.
Idaho rallied by scoring 22 of the next 35 points over the ensuing 6:44 of game action to claim a 54-53 advantage and the Vandals would hold onto the lead for the duration of the contest.
"We didn't guard well in the second half, give Idaho credit for making shots, but we didn't play good defense in the second half," NAU head coach
Jack Murphy said. "The problem that we discovered in the last two games is that there is no defense at the foul line. We have to defend without fouling. You can't give a team 22 free throws in the second half. I was proud of how our guys fought, but it is a tough pill to swallow when you don't get over the hump."
The loss marks NAU's seventh straight to open Big Sky play and drops its overall record to 3-17 on the season. Idaho moves to 13-6 overall and 5-2 in conference action following the victory. Each of the Lumberjacks' last four losses have come by six points or less.
NAU raced out to an early 6-0 lead to open the game, before Idaho scored the next 17 points to take control at 17-6 with at the 13:11 mark of the first half. It was all 'Jacks from there for the rest of the initial 20 minutes as they put together a 17-2 run to reclaim a 24-22 edge and cruised into halftime up 36-32.
Johnson led the first-half spurt for the Lumberjacks as he notched 19 of his 25 points in the opening 20 minutes of play and connected on 5-of-6 three-point attempts in that span, before finishing 5-of-9 overall for the game. The five treys marked the best single-game total of his career.
For the game, NAU finished 14-of-31 from beyond the arc. The 14 makes and 31 attempts marked its highest total in any game this season.
DeBisschop's double-double represented the fifth by a Lumberjack this season and his 13 rebounds matched his career-best effort.
Joining Johnson and DeBisschop with double-figure scoring totals for Northern Arizona was
Chris Bowling and
Gino Littles, who each chipped in 11 points.
The Lumberjacks' shortfall came at the free throw line as they missed on eight attempts from the charity stripe, while Idaho hit on 22-of-26 for the contest.
The Lumberjacks return to the road next week for a game at Montana State on Thursday, Jan. 25 in a 7 p.m. MST tipoff from Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman.
Thursday's 'Jacks-Bobcats contest will be broadcast live on Pluto.TV (channel 238) and the Lumberjack Radio Network beginning with the pregame show at 6:30 p.m. MST.
