FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (January 15, 2022) – After a 12-day layoff, the Northern Arizona men's basketball team returns to the court Monday night, hosting Idaho in the Walkup Skydome at 6 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and can be heard on the Lumberjack Radio Network.
"I thought we played a really good team game against Embry-Riddle and everything was starting to click," said head coach
Shane Burcar. "The guys are excited to get going and we have a great opportunity to play in front of our home crowd for an extended period of time and that's what we've been working for."
NAU Athletics is offering 50 percent off general admission tickets to Monday's game. Fans can purchase their tickets
here.
The Lumberjacks and Vandals will be meeting on Monday in a rescheduled game that was initially scheduled for Dec. 30. However, the initial contest was postponed due to COVID-19 issues within the Vandals' program. Subsequently, COVID-19 issues hit the Lumberjacks' program following their 101-54 victory over Embry-Riddle on Jan. 5, causing the 'Jacks to postpone their last three scheduled conference games.
All of that adds up to NAU playing for the first time in 12 days come Monday and just the third time in the last 28 days since taking on No. 4/4 Gonzaga on Dec. 20.
With the Lumberjacks' COVID-19 issues behind them, they now have a big opportunity to establish themselves in the Big Sky standings. As a result of postponements and reschedules, NAU will begin a stretch of five consecutive league games over the next two weeks in the Skydome with Idaho on Monday. This marks the first time NAU will have a stretch of five straight Big Sky home games in a decade since the 2011-12 season.
"You never want to put too much on a game, but Monday is important when looking at the standings," Burcar said. "Idaho played a good game against Weber State (on Thursday) and they play Idaho State on Saturday. If we're going to be serious about this, we have to take care of business at home. We have to own Flagstaff."
Prior to NAU's pause, the Lumberjacks rolled to a victory over Embry-Riddle in which seven players scored at least seven points and five players reaching double-figures led by redshirt junior
Nik Mains' career-high 24 points. Sophomore
Jalen Cone also dropped 21 points as NAU had a pair of players score 20 or more points in a game for the third time this season.
With Mains drilling 8-of-10 from three-point range and Cone hitting 7-of-12, the two 'Jacks combined for 15 three-pointers – the most by NAU teammates in a game in program history. The victory over the Eagles was just the latest example of the long distance prowess of Mains and Cone. Mains ranks second in the Big Sky in three-point percentage (.434) and fifth in three-pointers per game (2.4), while Cone – who is the league's second-leading scorer at 18.0 points per game – is fourth in percentage (.419) and first in makes per game (3.1).
Also for NAU (5-9, 1-2 Big Sky), redshirt freshman
Carson Towt is coming off a historic performance with the second triple-double in program history of 10 points, 14 rebounds and a career-high 11 assists. Along with averaging 8.7 points per game, Towt is top five in the Big Sky with team-highs of 9.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists and an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.6.
Monday will match up the Big Sky's top two most efficient three-point shooting teams. Idaho leads the conference in three-point percentage at .387 with NAU right behind at .374.
The Vandals, currently 3-11 overall and 0-4 in conference play, are led by Mikey Dixon, who ranks fourth in the league with 17.6 points per game. Idaho fell to Weber State, 84-74, on Thursday and plays at Idaho State on Saturday night before heading to Flagstaff.
In league games, Dixon is averaging a Big Sky leading 23.8 points per game while shooting 50 percent from the field and 40 percent behind the arc. Overall, Dixon is shooting 47.4 percent from three-point range and converting at one of the best clips in the country at the free throw line at 86.6 percent. His 84 free throws made ranks fifth nationally.
Trevante Anderson is Idaho's second-leading scorer at 12.1 points per game and is third in the Big Sky with 4.4 assists per game.
The Lumberjacks are riding a six-game winning streak against the Vandals, marking NAU's longest active streak versus a Big Sky opponent and longest win streak against any conference foe since winning 14 straight over Sacramento State from 2006-11. The two teams met twice in Moscow last season with NAU sweeping the season series.
To stay up to date with the NAU men's basketball team, follow the Lumberjacks on
Twitter and
Instagram.
