Lumberjack Men’s Hoops Suffers 96-53 Season-Opening Defeat to Arizona

TUCSON, Ariz. (December 7, 2020) – A slow start put the Northern Arizona men's basketball team behind and the Lumberjacks were unable to recover in a 96-53 season-opening defeat to Arizona Monday night in the McKale Center.
 
Arizona, who improved to 3-0 this season, controlled the game on both ends of the court shooting 66.7 percent for the game, while limiting NAU to just a clip of 30.5 percent. The Wildcats also outrebounded the Lumberjacks, 41-24, and drained 13 threes compared to just five by the visitors.
 
"I told the team after the game that we have a lot of work to do," said head coach Shane Burcar. "It was apparent with how they jumped on us early. We have to compete every minute out there. This game will not define us by any stretch of the imagination, but at the same time it's very disappointing to come in here and get beat like we just did."
 
While the Wildcats shot the lights out from deep, drilling 13-of-22 threes, they also outscored the Lumberjacks by a 30-20 margin in the paint. Arizona also recorded 30 points in transition.
 
Originally scheduled to play Arizona on Nov. 25, the Lumberjacks got out of the gates slow, misfiring on their five attempts from the floor and turning it over four times as the Wildcats raced out to a 15-0 advantage.
 
NAU went nearly five minutes before getting on the scoreboard when junior Cameron Shelton found redshirt junior Jay Green, making his debut in the Blue & Gold, for a reverse layup and the Lumberjacks' first bucket of the season.
 
In all, the Lumberjacks had four droughts of more than two minutes without a field goal in the first half. Meanwhile, the Wildcats shot 78.3 percent from the floor, including 8-of-10 behind the arc, to take a 53-27 halftime lead.
 
After making just 9-of-30 shots in the first half, NAU shot an almost identical percentage in the second, going 9-for-29 from the deck after halftime. Arizona maintained a lead of at least 26 points throughout the entirety of the second half in a wire-to-wire victory.
 
Redshirt junior Luke Avdalovic led the Lumberjacks with 16 points and hit three of NAU's five triples on the evening. Shelton was NAU's lone remaining player to score in double-figures, finishing with 15 points to go along with a team-high five rebounds.
 
For Arizona, Jemarl Baker Jr. was nearly perfect on his way to a career-high 33 points. Baker Jr. shot 12-for-16 overall and 7-of-9 from deep. In the first half, he connected on all five of his three-point attempts and was 8-of-8 from the floor in netting 21 points before the intermission.
 
The Lumberjacks will have a quick turnaround with their home opener up next on Thursday versus UC Riverside at 6 p.m. The first game of the season in the Rolle Activity Center will be streamed on Pluto TV Channel 1058.
 
To stay up to date with the NAU men's basketball team, follow the Lumberjacks on Twitter and Instagram.