FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (December 26, 2020) – Without a doubt, the Northern Arizona men's basketball team will face their biggest challenge of the season on Monday night versus No. 1/1 Gonzaga. The Lumberjacks, coming off their first victory of the season, will take on the top ranked team in the country at 7 p.m. MST on ROOT Sports.
"We get to play the No. 1 team in the country; if I'm 18-22 years old, sign me up for that," said head coach
Shane Burcar. "I'm excited to see us compete against them. There are so many things we can learn out of this game. It's an exciting time right now."
Monday night's matchup, which can also be heard on the Lumberjack Radio Network, with No. 1 Gonzaga will mark the Lumberjacks' third all-time game versus the top ranked team in the country, but first versus a team other than Arizona. NAU dropped previous games against No. 1 Arizona in 2002 (101-66) and in 2013 (77-44).
NAU went into the holiday weekend with a 68-65 victory over Denver on Tuesday after falling to Texas State, 70-65, the day prior. The win snapped NAU's season-opening five-game losing streak as the 'Jacks head into their final non-conference game of the season with a 1-5 record. Later in the week, the Lumberjacks will stay out in the Pacific Northwest in the resumption of Big Sky play at Idaho on Thursday and Saturday.
Junior
Cameron Shelton posted a pair of 20-point performances last week, capped by a season-best 27-point effort in the Lumberjacks' victory. Shelton's performances in Denver extended his 20-point scoring streak to three games, marking the first time in his career that he has scored 20 points in three consecutive outings. Shelton is tied for the conference lead in scoring at 19.7 points per game. He is ranked 46th nationally in scoring and is also top 25 nationally in free throws made (39) and free throws attempted (53), while shooting 42.9 percent from the field and 35 percent behind the arc.
Shelton received help earlier this week from three teammates who recorded their first career double-digit scoring games. Freshman
Carter Mahaney and redshirt freshman
Carson Towt scored 14 and 11 points respectively against Texas State, while redshirt junior
Jay Green broke out with 15 points in the win versus Denver.
Behind Shelton on the season is redshirt junior
Luke Avdalovic, who is averaging 11.2 points per game. From long range, Avdalovic is shooting 38.9 percent. Towt leads the team in rebounding at 5.3 per game and is also tied for the team-lead with Shelton in assists with 14.
The 'Jacks and Bulldogs have matched up just once since Gonzaga left the Big Sky for the West Coast Conference in 1979. Gonzaga, which owns the all-time series lead at 14-6, defeated NAU, 91-52, in the teams' last meeting on Nov. 18, 2015. Eleven of Gonzaga's 14 victories in the series have come on its home floor, where NAU has never won in Spokane, Wash.
Gonzaga is the consensus No. 1 team in the country in both the AP and Coaches Polls and is a perfect 7-0 after its 98-75 victory over No. 16/15 Virginia on Saturday. The Bulldogs have already picked up four nationally-ranked wins this season against No. 6/5 Kansas, No. 11/15 West Virginia, No. 3/3 Iowa in addition to Virginia.
The Bulldogs have a formidable 1-2 punch in Corey Kispert and Drew Timme, both of whom were on the WCC Preseason Team along with Joel Ayayi. Kispert poured in a career-high 32 points on Saturday versus Virginia and is averaging 22.4 points per game and shooting 63.6 percent from the field and 52 percent from three-point range. Timme is averaging 21.6 points per game on 60.4 percent shooting and leads Gonzaga on the glass with 7.6 rebounds per game.
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