FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (December 5, 2020) – For the first time in 271 days, the Northern Arizona men's basketball team will finally take the court Monday night with their 2020-21 season opener versus in-state Pac-12 rival Arizona. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the McKale Center and the game will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network.
The game was originally scheduled for November 25, but it was ultimately postponed as a result of an isolated COVID-19 incident within the Lumberjack men's basketball program.
"We're excited about Monday for many reasons," said head coach
Shane Burcar. "We thought we were going to play a week and a half ago, but I'm excited for the guys to get out there and compete. We've put a lot of hard work in and we've had a lot of obstacles with stops in the summer, stops in the fall and stops recently. But we can't wait to get out there and play basketball – something we've all been doing since we were little kids."
Fans can also tune in to Monday's season opener on the Lumberjack Radio Network with
Mitch Strohman on the call.
Burcar, entering his second year as head coach, will lead the Lumberjacks, into their first season opener in the month of December since an 89-79 season-opening victory over Saint Mary's College on Dec. 1, 1992. The game will also mark NAU's first in nearly nine months since the Lumberjacks fell to Idaho State in the first round of the Big Sky Tournament on March 11.
NAU, coming off a 16-14 season, was slated for its first postseason appearance in five years prior to the season's cancelation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lumberjacks, picked eighth in both the Big Sky preseason coaches and media polls, return six letterwinners and 10 players in total from their 2019-20 roster that put together the program's first winning season in five years.
NAU's returners are headlined by junior
Cameron Shelton, who was named to the Big Sky Preseason All-Conference Team. Shelton averaged 14.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.4 assists last season while starting all 30 games and earning All-Big Sky Third Team honors as a sophomore. Shelton is one of two returning starters along with redshirt junior
Luke Avdalovic. Avdalovic is the team's second-leading returning scorer at 8.9 points per game and he led the team with 52 three-pointers made last season.
NAU and Arizona will be meeting for the seventh time in the last decade and the Lumberjacks will be opening the season with the Wildcats for the third time in the last four years.
Last season, the Wildcats handed the Lumberjacks a 91-52 loss. Shelton paced NAU with 17 points and seven rebounds while sophomore
Isaiah Lewis recorded 13 points and six rebounds in his collegiate debut.
While the Lumberjacks will be playing their first game of the season, the Wildcats are 2-0 following a narrow 70-67 victory over Big Sky preseason favorite Eastern Washington on Saturday. The Wildcats, coming off a 21-11 season with a 10-8 record in Pac-12 play, knocked off Grambling State, 74-55, in their season opener on Nov. 27.
The Wildcats were picked fifth in the Pac-12 Preseason Media Poll with James Akinjo, a Georgetown transfer, named to the preseason all-conference honorable mention list. Akinjo leads the team in scoring through the first two games at 17.0 while shooting 43.8 percent behind the arc. He is also averaging 3.0 assists per game.
To stay up to date with the NAU men's basketball team, follow the Lumberjacks on
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