FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Jan. 23, 2018) – The Northern Arizona men's basketball travels to the Treasure State this week for matchups against Montana State and current Big Sky leader Montana.
The 'Jacks will first head to Bozeman to battle the Bobcats in a 7 p.m. MST tipoff from Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in a contest that will be streamed live on Pluto.TV (channel 238).
NAU will follow with a trek to Missoula to meet the Grizzlies in another 7 p.m. MST tip from Dahlberg Arena that will also be aired on Pluto.TV (channel 237).
Both of the Lumberjacks road contests this week will also be broadcast live on the Lumberjack Radio Network beginning with the pregame show at 6:30 p.m.
NAU enters the week looking for its first Big Sky win of the season as it sits at 3-17 overall and 0-7 in conference action. The 'Jacks have been right on the cusp of victory as they have dropped each of their last four contests by a margin of six points or less.
Montana State will enter Thursday's showdown with an 11-9 overall mark and a 4-3 record in Big Sky play. Montana currently leads the Big Sky with a perfect 7-0 conference record and is 14-5 on the season.
The Lumberjacks dropped its previous meetings this season with both the Bobcats and the Grizzlies during the opening week of conference play in Flagstaff. NAU was defeated by Montana in the Big Sky opener for both teams by an 87-69 margin on Dec. 28 and came up just short against Montana State in a 76-73 defeat that was decided in overtime.
Sophomore
JoJo Anderson leads the 'Jacks in scoring with an average of 12.4 points per game (21
st in Big Sky) and has posted double-figure scoring numbers in a team-best 12 games this season. Fellow sophomore
Chris Bowling chips in 9.7, while
Torry Johnson adds 9.6 ppg. Johnson is coming off a career-best 25-point performance in the 'Jacks most recent action on Jan .20 vs. Idaho.
Sophomore
Brooks DeBisschop paces NAU on the glass with a team-best 7.0 rebounds per contest. DeBisschop posted his second double-double of the season (fifth overall by an NAU player) with 10 points and 13 rebounds last Saturday vs. Idaho.
Junior
Isaiah Thomas leads the way for the Lumberjacks with a team-best 24 blocks, including 19 in the last eight games.
Tyler Hall paces the scoring column for the Bobcats with an 18.8 points per game clip that ranks as the fifth best in the Big Sky Conference. Montana State has dropped each of its last three games entering Thursday's meeting with Northern Arizona.
Montana is led by a trio of players who are averaging double-figure points and rank among the Big Sky's top 16 scoring leaders. Ahmaad Rorie has tabbed a team-best 18.4 points per game over the initial 20 games, which currently sits at seventh-best in the conference.
Michael Oguine (15.2 ppg/11
th Big Sky) and Jamar Akoh (13.9 ppg/16
th Big Sky) round out the Grizzlies' scoring leaders.
Montana has opened conference play with seven consecutive victories and has outscored its opponents by an average of 85.9 – 69.1 over those seven league wins.
The Lumberjacks lead the all-time series with Montana State 51-57 and trails Montana 67-33 entering this week's action.
