FULL 2021-22 SCHEDULE
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (September 13, 2021) – Northern Arizona head men's basketball coach
Shane Burcar announced the team's 2021-22 schedule on Monday, highlighted by 15 home games and road matchups at Arizona, Washington and Gonzaga.
The Lumberjacks will open their home schedule on Monday, Nov. 15 in the Rolle Activity Center versus Benedictine Mesa before welcoming in CSU Bakersfield on Nov. 18. Those two contests will be among five home non-conference games for NAU this upcoming season.
Prior to their home opener, the 'Jacks will open the campaign with a pair of road games at Pac-12 schools, Arizona and Washington. NAU will tip-off the season at Arizona for the fourth time in the last five seasons on Tuesday, Nov. 9. Two days later, the Lumberjacks will take on the Huskies in Seattle prior to beginning a stretch of four home games in their next five.
"There's no better way for us to open a season then at Arizona in front of 14,000+," said head coach
Shane Burcar. "Then we're going to go up and play another Pac-12 school in Washington, who plays a 2-3 zone and we'll see that in the first week of the season. It's a great way to start our non-conference schedule."
After the tilts against Benedictine Mesa and CSU Bakersfield, NAU will travel to South Padre Island, Texas to face Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) as part of the
Battle on the Beach event on Nov. 20. The matchup on South Padre Island will the first of a home-and-home between the Lumberjacks and Vaqueros, as the two teams will quickly turn around and play again in Flagstaff on Nov. 22.
NAU will then host Cal State Fullerton on Nov. 24 before opening up conference play on the road at Weber State and Idaho State on Dec. 2 and 4. The first Big Sky road trip will mark the beginning of a stretch of five games away from Flagstaff until NAU's home conference opener on Dec. 30 versus Idaho.
In that stretch, the Lumberjacks will also play at South Dakota (Dec. 11) and at Gonzaga (Dec. 20) sandwiched around their game versus San Diego at Footprint Center in Phoenix during the
Jerry Colangelo Classic on Dec. 18. The game versus Gonzaga, last season's national runner-up, will be NAU's second consecutive trip to Spokane, Wash. in as many seasons.
"It's an honor to be associated with Mr. Colangelo and fortunately we were invited to be part of the Colangelo Classic," Burcar said. "We're going to represent Northern Arizona University in the right way in front of a lot of alumni and fans, who I know will be there in Phoenix. Then to play a team like Gonzaga – they're going to be preseason No. 1 or 2 – there's nothing better. As a competitor you want to play in those types of settings. We got beat by Arizona and Gonzaga pretty good last year, but we learned a lot from those games."
The 'Jacks will play one final non-conference game on Jan. 5, hosting Embry-Riddle following their first anticipated weekend back in the Walkup Skydome versus Idaho (Dec. 30) and Eastern Washington (Jan. 1) to ring in the new year. NAU played its entire 2020-21 home slate in Rolle.
"The question is, how good can we be in the Big Sky?" Burcar said. "The Big Sky has represented well in the football non-conference and we hope to do the same thing. At the end of the day, we want to be as good as we can. We have to win on any given night and the big picture is we're a one-bid league, and we want to be ready for Boise."
After altering its conference schedule as a result of COVID-19 in which teams faced each other twice at the same location per weekend, the Big Sky returns to a traditional 20-game slate this season. Each team will play all 10 conference opponents twice, home and away.
The Idaho/Eastern Washington weekend will start a stretch of six of eight conference games at home between Dec. 30 and Jan. 29 before the Lumberjacks close the season with six road games in their last 10. NAU's final home game will be Saturday, Feb. 26 versus Weber State, and the Lumberjacks' regular season finale will be a week later at Idaho (March 5).
For the fourth consecutive year, the Big Sky will converge in Boise, Idaho for the conference tournament beginning on Wednesday, March 9. The men's tournament, featuring all 11 teams, will conclude with the championship game on March 12.
To renew your season tickets, fans are encouraged to call 928-523-0639. NAU Athletics is starting ticket renews today, and all 2019-20 season ticket holders will receive an email with info on how to renew as well.
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