FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (November 30, 2021) – The Northern Arizona men's basketball team will be tested immediately to start conference play with a road trip to two of the league's top four teams from a season ago this week. The first weekend of the Big Sky schedule begins in Ogden, Utah versus Weber State on Thursday at 7 p.m. followed by a Saturday night 6 p.m. tip-off versus Idaho State in Pocatello, Idaho. Both games will be available on ESPN+ and the Lumberjack Radio Network.
"There's no place you'd rather start (conference) than a Montana, Weber State or Southern Utah. I could name any team really," said head coach
Shane Burcar. "I like to start on the road because we'll see what we're about. We've got two great games. Weber State is electric right now and Idaho State is someone we've struggled with in my short time here. No matter what happened last week, we would've been laser focused on this week."
NAU heads into the brief start to the Big Sky slate with a 3-4 record after consecutive losses to UTRGV and Cal State Fullerton last week. As for NAU's two opponents this week, they have had different starts to the season. Weber State is the only remaining undefeated team in the league at 6-0 with five of its six victories away from its home court, while Idaho State has dropped five straight after opening the season with a win to sit at 1-5.
On Thursday, NAU will aim to snap a seven-year streak of dropping its conference opener, having not started Big Sky play with a 1-0 record since defeating Montana on the road during the 2013-14 season. While the Lumberjacks boast four starters averaging more than 8.5 points per game and six total players at 7.5 per game or better, led by sophomore
Jalen Cone's 16.1, their defense will need to limit a Wildcat team that ranks second in the country in shooting at 53.9 percent and 39th in scoring offense averaging 81.8 points per game.
The 'Jacks will look to get back to their strong defensive start after allowing 50 percent shooting from the deck or better in each of their last three games. Prior to that, NAU's opponent field goal percentage was a combined 37.7 percent through its first four contests.
Redshirt junior
Nik Mains backs Cone in scoring at 12.1 points per game, shooting 45.6 percent overall and 38.1 percent from three, both marks which are the best among NAU starters. Redshirt sophomore
Keith Haymon is shooting 37.8 percent from deep while averaging 9.9 points per game, and redshirt freshman
Carson Towt is averaging 8.6 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.
Off the bench, redshirt sophomore
Ezekiel Richards and junior
Mason Stark are both averaging 7.5 points per game and shooting 50 percent or better overall. Richards also paces the Big Sky in blocks at 1.8 per game.
NAU has dropped three straight to Weber State since a 72-64 win in Flagstaff on Jan. 4, 2020. Overall, Weber State has won 10 of the last 11 meetings since NAU's last win in Ogden, a 61-54 result, on Feb. 14, 2015. Similarly, the Lumberjacks have lost three straight to Idaho State since an 88-87 overtime win in Pocatello on Feb. 6, 2020 and eight of the last 10 overall.
Weber State's first six wins have come by an average margin of 16.2 points per game. The Wildcats, voted second in the preseason conference polls, defeated Dixie State, 87-70, last Saturday on the road as they have played five of their first six games away from the Dee Events Center where they have won 12 straight games, which is tied for the 13th longest win streak in the country.
Koby McEwen, a transfer from Marquette, is one of four Wildcats averaging double-figure scoring with a team-leading 18.2 points per game. McEwen is shooting 42.1 percent behind the arc. JJ Overton, a transfer out of Utah Valley, is second on the team with 15.0 points per game and ranks 12th nationally in field goal percentage (.682).
Idaho State most recently fell 59-48 to Air Force last Saturday on the road, a loss that extended its skid to five games since opening the season with a victory over Eastern Oregon. The Bengals, picked sixth in the Big Sky Preseason Polls, host Portland State on Thursday in their conference opener.
Robert Ford III has been the Bengals' do-it-all player so far, leading the team with 11.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. Ford III is seventh in the Big Sky, right ahead of both Mains and Haymon, in three-point percentage at an even 40 percent. Tarik Cool is Idaho State's second-leading scorer at 9.5 points per game and paces the Bengals in assists with 15.
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