NAU Men’s Hoops Gains Valuable Experience in Road Loss to No. 4/4 Gonzaga

SPOKANE, Wash. (December 20, 2021) – No. 4/4 Gonzaga used a 17-5 first half run to pull away from the Northern Arizona men's basketball team on its way to a 95-49 victory on Monday. Shooting 55 percent from the field, the Bulldogs, who moved up a spot to No. 4 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll earlier in the day, upped their record to 10-2, while the Lumberjacks fell to 4-8.
 
"Gonzaga is top five in the country as they are every single year and they'll battle again for a Final Four spot," said head coach Shane Burcar. "This was a good experience for us. I'm happy with our compete level. To outrebound Gonzaga, 40-34, I was impressed with our compete level and there was no question about that."
 
Playing in front of a sellout crowd of 6,000 in the McCarthey Athletic Center, the Lumberjacks trailed by just six midway through the first half before a 17-5 Bulldog run essentially put the game out of reach. The Bulldogs, last year's national runner-up and consensus preseason No. 1 team in the country, extended the nation's longest active home win streak to 58 games.
 
After immediately falling behind 8-0, NAU settled in and made four of its next seven shots to pull within 13-9 on a three-pointer by sophomore Jalen Cone, who scored 17 of his team-high 19 points in the first half. A couple of possessions later, Cone drilled yet another trey and was fouled, which he proceeded to complete the four-point play to bring the 'Jacks within 16-15 six minutes into the game.
 
Gonzaga answered with a 7-0 run, but NAU still found a way to stay within striking range at the midway point of the first half with a bucket by redshirt junior Jay Green that made it a 26-20 game. However, the Lumberjacks managed just two field goals over the next seven minutes in which the Bulldogs extended their lead with a 17-5 run.
 
Gonzaga would eventually take a 48-30 lead into halftime, outscoring NAU by a 22-10 margin over the final 10 minutes of the first half. The Bulldogs then opened the second half with an 11-2 run and ultimately held the 'Jacks to just 25.7 percent shooting after the intermission.
 
NAU shot just 32.3 percent overall and was only 5-of-22 from behind the arc, including misfiring on all 11 attempts from deep in the second half.
 
"We had good opportunities (to score) and shots aren't falling at this point," Burcar said. "Give Gonzaga credit. They're long and they're one of the best defensive teams in the country."
 
The final margin was skewed with NAU going without a field goal for the last seven minutes of the contest after a jumper by Green with 7:12 on the clock.
 
Despite the offensive struggles, the Lumberjacks outrebounded the Bulldogs, 40-34, just two nights after posting a -19 margin on the glass versus San Diego. Led by a game-high 11 rebounds from redshirt freshman Carson Towt – his fifth double-digit rebounding effort of the season – NAU handed Gonzaga its worst rebounding margin of the season.
 
The Bulldogs entered Monday's contest fifth in the country in rebounding margin at +12.7. The 40 rebounds were the second-most by a Gonzaga opponent this season and NAU's 15 offensive boards were tied for the most allowed by the Bulldogs. The Lumberjacks used their 15 offensive rebounds to post a 12-8 advantage in second chance points.
 
Cone shot 7-of-18 from the field and 4-of-7 from behind the arc to lead the Lumberjacks with 19 points, one off game-high honors. Redshirt sophomore Ezekiel Richards was second on the team with eight points, converting on all four of his field goal attempts, while Towt finished with seven.
 
Richards also tied with sophomore Ajang Aguek for second on the team in rebounds with five apiece. Along with freshman Wynton Brown, Aguek and Brown combined for nine rebounds off the bench in 27 total minutes.
 
The Lumberjacks will now have 10 days off before their next game as they get set to play their first home game in over a month on Dec. 30. NAU will host Idaho in its Big Sky home opener in the Walkup Skydome at 6 p.m. that night in the return to conference play.
 
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