PURCHASE 2021-22 MEN'S BASKETBALL TICKETS
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (November 14, 2021) – Beginning a stretch of four of their next five games at home, the Northern Arizona men's basketball team hosts Benedictine Mesa on Monday at 6 p.m. in the Rolle Activity Center. Monday's home opener will be followed by a Thursday night game, also at 6 p.m., versus CSU Bakersfield in Rolle.
All NAU home games as well as all Big Sky Conference games will be available for streaming on ESPN+. As always, the radio broadcast can be heard on the Lumberjack Radio Network.
"The culture is in place and we have everything here in Flagstaff, but we want our fans to jump on the bandwagon," said head coach
Shane Burcar. "The change we need to make in terms of results, is we need to own Flagstaff. There is nothing better than having fans at your games. That's worth a couple of points every single night. We can't wait to see everyone in the Rolle Activity Center.
The Lumberjacks will be welcoming fans back to their home games for the first time since the 2019-20 season after playing without them in the stands last season due to COVID-19 protocols. Without fans in the stands, NAU struggled at in its own gym, winning just one of eight home games while playing their entire home schedule in Rolle.
However, NAU has had incredible success in its home openers dating back to the 1997-98 season, winning 22 of its last 24. Of those 22 wins, 21 have been by double-digits, including a 93-56 victory over Benedictine Mesa two years ago as the 'Jacks will open their home schedule with the Redhawks for the second time in three years.
The Lumberjacks open up their 15-game home slate coming off a road trip, that despite finished with a 0-2 record, showcased a lot of positives that they can build on this season. Playing a pair of Pac-12 schools in Arizona and Washington, NAU held both of them to a combined .388 opponent field goal percentage, significantly better than NAU's 2020-21 mark of .501. The Lumberjacks also held their own on the glass, coming out of the first week of the season even in rebounding margin while averaging 42.0 boards per game.
"I learned a lot about our team last week," Burcar said. "I told our staff that these are our guys and they turned the ball over a lot, but we have to put our arms around them. They are coachable and they want that coaching. They're hungry and the results will change when you have people who want to continue to get better. Our guys will be workers out there."
Leading the way for NAU was redshirt freshman
Carson Towt, who through two games leads NAU in scoring (10.0), rebounding (11.0) and assists (3.0). In both games, Towt narrowly missed a double-double, which would have been his first of his career. Towt posted 11 points and nine rebounds, a career-high at the time, against Arizona before registering nine points and a new career-high of 13 boards versus Washington in addition to four assists, a block and a steal.
Behind Towt, NAU's next three leading scorers all made an immediate impact in their first two games as Lumberjacks. Junior
Mason Stark is second on the team with 9.5 points per game off the bench, while sophomore
Jalen Cone is averaging 9.0 points. Redshirt sophomore
Ezekiel Richards is fourth at 8.0 points per game. Richards totaled five blocks last Thursday versus Washington, narrowly missing the school record by one block.
The one thing that NAU will look to clean up this week is turnovers having committed 21 in each of its first two games of the season after averaging only 11.8 per game last season, which ranked 73rd in the country.
Monday will be the third all-time meeting between NAU and Benedictine Mesa with the Lumberjacks holding an average margin of victory of 33.0 in the first two matchups.
Led by head coach Frank Woodford, a former NAU graduate assistant from 2013-15, Benedictine Mesa is 1-3 this season coming off an 80-64 road loss to Arizona Christian on Nov. 10. The Redhawks have dropped two straight since notching their lone win, 94-75, over SAGU American Indian University on Oct. 28. The Redhawks, out of the California Pacific Conference in the NAIA, are led by Maurice Walton, their first All-American in program history. Walton ranks second on the team with 12.3 points per game and is averaging a team-best 9.8 rebounds. Jay Small is Benedictine Mesa's leading scorer at 12.5 points per game. He is shooting 37 percent from behind the arc, averaging 2.5 made threes per game.
Meanwhile, NAU and CSU Bakersfield will meet for the first time in four seasons since the Lumberjacks handed the Roadrunners a 60-52 road loss in Bakersfield, Calif. That win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Lumberjacks in the series as the all-time series is tied at 5-5. From 2010-17, the two teams met six times with each team winning three.
CSU Bakersfield (1-1) notched its first win of the season, 85-60, over Life Pacific on Saturday in their home opener after opening the season with a 95-58 road loss to No. 2 UCLA last Tuesday. The Roadrunners were voted fifth in the preseason Big West Media Poll and sixth in the Coaches Poll after finishing seventh in the conference last season. CSU Bakersfield is led by Justin McCall, who averages a team-leading 11.5 points per game and is tied for the team-lead with 4.0 rebounds. McCall has been extremely efficient from the field shooting 69.2 percent. Backing McCall is Kaleb Higgins, the only other Roadrunner averaging double-figure points at 11.0.
To stay up to date with the NAU men's basketball team, follow the Lumberjacks on
Twitter and
Instagram.
WEEK PROMOTIONS
- Monday – All fans will receive Rock-n-Rolle stickers and will be entered into a raffle to win a signed guitar by the 2021-22 men's basketball team.
- Thursday – The first 100 fans will receive a Native American Heritage t-shirt as part of Native American Heritage Month.
