FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (January 3, 2022) – With hopes of ending a season-long four-game losing streak, the Northern Arizona men's basketball team hosts Embry-Riddle on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Rolle Activity Center. NAU's final non-conference game of the season will be streamed on ESPN+ and fans can listen to the call on the Lumberjack Radio Network.
"We set up our schedule this way because we want to be playing games this time of the year," said head coach
Shane Burcar. "We're not going to take Embry-Riddle for granted. They came in here several years ago and beat NAU and that's going to be their big game to play a Division I school. We'll be prepared for Wednesday and there were some bright spots (last Saturday)."
The mid-week non-conference game against Embry-Riddle will serve as NAU's opener to the week with just a single conference game at Southern Utah on Saturday. The meeting between NAU and Embry-Riddle will be the third all-time contest in the series. Both teams have a win with NAU defeating Embry-Riddle, 90-52, in 2015 and the Eagles claiming an 82-70 victory in 2017.
The Lumberjacks are coming off a 78-65 loss to Eastern Washington last Saturday despite hitting 12 three-pointers, four each from sophomore
Jalen Cone, redshirt junior
Nik Mains and redshirt sophomore
Keith Haymon. The loss dropped NAU's overall mark to 4-9 and its Big Sky record to 1-2. Saturday's New Year's Day outing was the fourth game this season that NAU has connected on 10 or more three-pointers. As a team, NAU is shooting 35.3 percent from behind the arc, which ranks fifth in the conference.
Cone, Haymon and Mains all rank in the top 15 of the league in three-pointers made per game. Cone, shooting 39.8 percent from three, is second with 2.85 treys per game. Haymon (2.20) and Mains (1.92) are seventh and 15th respectively.
Despite the loss, the Lumberjacks also took care of the ball, committing a season-low nine turnovers against a Division I opponent on Saturday. That in turn helped NAU outscore Eastern Washington, 21-9, on points off turnovers.
Cone, who dropped 18 points versus Eastern Washington, is second in the Big Sky in scoring at 17.8 points per game. Over his last five games, Cone is averaging 22.8 points per game and shooting 52.3 percent from deep with 23 three-pointers made during that span.
Redshirt freshman
Carson Towt continues to dominate the glass, ranking 29th in the country with 9.3 rebounds per game and 22nd with 121 total rebounds. In addition, Towt, coming off a five-assist game versus the Eagles, ranks eighth in the Big Sky with a team-leading 3.5 assists per game.
Embry-Riddle is 2-11 this season following a 100-71 road loss to Vanguard last Friday. The Eagles, an NAIA school out of Prescott, have dropped 10 straight since posting the second of back-to-back victories on Nov. 4 at West Coast Baptist. The California Pacific Conference member did not compete last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This season, Embry-Riddle is averaging 69.6 points per game and allowing 92.5 points to its opponents.
Conner Verdugo leads three Eagles in double-figure scoring at 14.8 points per game. Averaging 2.3 made threes per game at a 41.1 percent clip, Verdugo has drained 30 three-pointers in addition to leading the team with 3.5 assists and 1.6 steals per game. David Teibo paces Embry-Riddle with 5.5 rebounds per game. Offensively, Teibo is efficient shooting 63.1 percent from the deck and averaging 7.4 points per game.
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