VERMILLION, S.D. (Nov. 12, 2018) – Sophomore guard
Carlos Hines scored a career-high 23 points, but it wasn't enough to overcome a slow shooting start for the Lumberjacks in a 90-74 loss at South Dakota on Monday night.
"I thought offensively in the first half we did not play or shoot well," NAU head coach
Jack Murphy said. "We played with a little foul trouble, but that is a good experience. Three or four of our big guys were in foul trouble, so we need to do a better job of defending without fouling."
A total of five Lumberjacks finished the game with four fouls, including sophomore
Bernie Andre, who played only 10 minutes in the opening half after scoring 20 points and nabbing 14 rebounds in the season opener on Saturday.
Northern Arizona (1-1) fell behind by as many as 12 in a first half that saw it connect on 9-of-27 field goal attempts for a 33.3 percentage. The majority of the Lumberjacks' offense came in transition as they scored 14 points off eight Coyotes' turnovers and made 11-of-14 free throw attempts in the opening 20 minutes.
"We got better at the foul line from the first game and we attacked the rim well to get to the foul line," Murphy said. "We got outrebounded tonight. We have to do a better job there so we can get out in transition more."
Meanwhile, South Dakota featured hot shooting throughout the contest making 54.5 percent of its field goal attempts (30-of-55) and 10 three-pointers, including seven in the first half.
A total of four South Dakota players finished with double-digit scoring efforts, including three who notched at least 20. Triston Simpson led all players with 24 points on 6-of-8 shooting and a 10-of-12 clip from the free throw stripe.
Tyler Petersen added 23 points and Brandon Armstrong's shooting from long-range was decisive in the win as he connected on 6-of-7 attempts from beyond-the-arc and scored 17 of his 22 points in the first half.
Joining Hines in double-figure for the Lumberjacks was junior
Ted McCree who tabbed 16 and Andre, who despite seeing his play time limited by foul issues, finished with 11 points in 24 minutes.
NAU battled back throughout the contest after a 21-9 spurt by the Coyotes opened up a 12-point lead with 7:26 left in the first half. A pair of baskets by
Brooks DeBisschop, along with a transition layup by Hines and a three-pointer by
Nik Mains sparked a 9-0 run that pulled the 'Jacks to within three points at 28-25, with 4:38 left before the break.
South Dakota (2-0) outscored the Lumberjacks 12-6 the rest of the way to take a 40-31 advantage into halftime.
Three consecutive NAU baskets by Andre, Bolton and McCree after the break trimmed the margin to 40-37, but the Lumberjacks would get no closer as South Dakota continued to keep its hot shooting touch by hitting on 17-of-28 shots in the final 20 minutes for a 60.7 percent clip.
For the game, the 'Jacks were outscored in the paint 36-16 and outrebounded 36-25. NAU won the battle of the bench, displaying its depth with a 37-7 advantage in points from its reserves. The Lumberjacks hit on 21-of-28 free throw attempts in the loss.
NAU got to within four points of the lead seven times in the second half, with the last coming at 64-60 with 8:27 left. The Coyotes outscored the 'Jacks 26-14 the rest of the way to secure the win.
The Lumberjacks continue their current five-game road trip on Wednesday, Nov. 14 at Omaha in a 6 p.m. MST tip that will be aired on the Lumberjack Radio Network beginning with the pregame show at 5:30 p.m. MST.
The NAU-Omaha game will also be streamed live at:
OMavs.com – Click Here
