FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (November 19, 2021) – After a successful two-game homestand in the mountains, the Northern Arizona men's basketball team heads to the beach, specifically South Padre Island, for their next game versus UTRGV on Saturday at 12 p.m. MST. The game, which will the first of two contests as part of the inaugural UTRGV South Padre Island Battle on the Beach, will be available for fans on ESPN+ and the Lumberjack Radio Network.
NAU and UTRGV, who haven't met since a 68-55 Lumberjack home win on Dec. 8, 2010, will actually see each other twice in the next two games. After Saturday's game on South Padre Island, the two teams will play again on the back half of a home-and-home Monday night at 6 p.m. in the Rolle Activity Center.
"These are two games where we're looking forward to seeing where we're at," said head coach
Shane Burcar. "They played Arizona also and it'll be a great challenge. Coach (Matt) Figger and I have become friends over a short period of time. It's a good relationship and they feel the same way, it's hard for us to get home games, so we're looking forward to it and it should be fun."
The Lumberjacks carry a lot of momentum with them to Texas following a pair of home wins over Benedictine Mesa, 97-48, and CSU Bakersfield, 74-64, earlier this week. Not only did the Lumberjacks' offense shine, shooting 49.2 percent overall and 47.9 percent behind the arc in the two wins, but their opponents shot just 36.6 percent overall and 33.3 percent from three.
NAU had four players score in double-figures in both games as four of the Lumberjacks' five starters are averaging between 12.0 and 10.0 points per game. Sophomore
Jalen Cone, coming off an 18-point game versus the Roadrunners on Thursday, leads the balanced NAU offense at 12.0.
Both redshirt junior
Nik Mains and redshirt sophomore
Keith Haymon have been lights out from behind the arc through the first four games. Mains, second on the team with 11.0 points per game, is shooting 40.9 percent and Haymon, third in scoring at 10.5 per game, is shooting 47.4 percent. As a team, NAU is shooting 42.1 percent from long range, which ranks 31st in the country.
NAU also continued cleaning up the glass with high efficiency over the week and now has outrebounded its opponents in three straight games. In comparison, NAU held the rebounding margin just five times last season. The last time NAU had a positive rebounding margin in three straight games was Jan. 26-Feb. 9, 2017 over a five-game stretch.
Redshirt freshman
Carson Towt ranks third in the Big Sky, and 19th nationally, with 10.8 rebounds per game. With 43 total rebounds, Towt is 11th in the country to lead the team.
UTRGV defeated Paul Quinn College, 85-68, on Tuesday to improve its record to 2-1. The victory was a bounceback from the Vaqueros' 104-50 road loss to Arizona last Friday. UTRGV tied for ninth in the preseason WAC Coaches Poll and 11th in the Media Poll.
The Vaqueros have four players averaging double-digit points led by Justin Johnson, a Southern Mississippi transfer, at 13.7 per game. Johnson is shooting 46.7 percent from the field and is also tied for second on the team with 5.7 rebounds per game. Ricky Nelson is second on the team in scoring at 12.0 and paces UTRGV with 4.3 assists per game. Nelson is in his second season as a Vaquero after starting his career at Weber State.
NAU has won four straight against UTRGV, formerly Texas Pan-American, with all four victories coming since 1997. The Lumberjacks lead the all-time series, 4-1.
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