FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (January 12, 2021) – The Northern Arizona men's basketball team makes the trek to Missoula, Mont. for a pair of games versus Montana beginning Thursday at 5 p.m. in Dahlberg Arena. Both of this weekend's games, including Saturday's second game at 11 a.m., will be available to fans on Pluto TV Channel 1056 and the Lumberjack Radio Network.
A week after sweeping Idaho on the road, the Lumberjacks dropped a pair of close home games to Idaho State last week. NAU fell to 3-8 overall and 2-3 in conference play with losses by the scores of 73-69 and 76-70 during its homestand. Ironically, NAU is 0-4 at home this season while owning a 3-4 record away (road and neutral games) from Flagstaff.
"The guys are great. They are competitive and we're building a culture where high-character is the number one thing," said head coach
Shane Burcar. "The competitive spirit hasn't wavered at all. We have a resilient group and I have never been so confident in what we're doing here to get this thing right at NAU."
Despite the losses, junior
Cameron Shelton was exceptional yet again for the 'Jacks, extending his 20-point scoring streak to eight games last week, including a 28-point effort against Idaho State last Saturday. No other Lumberjack has scored 20 or more points in five consecutive games going back to the 1993-94 season. Shelton is averaging 25.8 points per game in five league games and for the season, he ranks 12th in the country in scoring (22.2) and 14th in total points (244). In addition, he is averaging 5.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game overall this season.
Shelton begins the weekend needing 74 points to become the 30th player in school history to join the 1,000 point club. His scoring average is also on pace to set a new single season school record.
Redshirt junior
Nik Mains has scored in double-figures in three consecutive games and is averaging 14.0 points per game in that span. In particular, he has been hot from long distance shooting 52.9 percent (9-of-17) in the last three games. Now averaging 7.3 points on 37.8 percent behind the arc, both figures would set new career-bests for Mains.
Last Saturday, the Lumberjacks were without their second-leading scorer redshirt junior
Luke Avdalovic due to injury, and in response freshman
Wynton Brown had a breakout game off the bench, posting 15 points and six rebounds in his first extended action of his career. Redshirt sophomore
Keith Haymon and sophomore
Ajang Aguek also earned their first career starts in NAU's most recent game.
Montana is just 1-3 in conference play and 5-6 overall, but the Grizzlies have been locked into close games throughout conference play. Including its 56-54 victory over Northern Colorado on Jan. 4, all four of its Big Sky games have been decided by a total of six points. Montana had its scheduled bye week from Big Sky play and defeated Whitworth, 84-67, in its only game of the week at home last Saturday.
The last time these two teams met in the Walkup Skydome on Feb. 27 last year, the Lumberjacks snapped a 10-game skid to the Grizzlies with a 57-56 victory. Shelton converted two game-winning free throws in the final seconds to secure NAU's first win over Montana in nearly six years. The Grizzlies own the all-time series lead, 74-32, and are 44-10 all-time at home versus the Lumberjacks.
Kyle Owens is Montana's leading scorer and rebounder with 11.9 points and 7.1 boards per game. Owens ranks fifth in the conference in rebounding and is shooting 44.6 percent from the field this season. Michael Steadman, a Preseason All-Conference selection, leads the Grizzlies in scoring in conference play at 12.5 points per game and ranks behind Owens in all games this season with 11.0 points while shooting 54 percent from the deck.
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