EDINBURG, Texas (November 22, 2022) – The Northern Arizona University men's basketball team completed play at the Leon Black Classic in Edinburg, Texas tonight against the hosts UTRGV. The game had 17 lead changes and eight ties, but unfortunately went the way of the Vaqueros who topped the Lumberjacks 91-79 at the Bert Ogden Arena.
After the loss, NAU falls to 2-5 overall and loses its second-straight while UTRGV improves to 4-2.
The story tonight came at the free throw line, as the Vaqueros went 31-for-35 from the charity stripe compared to 11-for-13 from NAU. The Lumberjacks led 41-35 at the half, but UTRGV shot 66.7 percent (18-27) in the second half and held Northern Arizona to 41.4 percent (12-29).
In all, the Vaqueros made half of their shots (28-56) and NAU shot 45.2 percent (28-62) and made 12 three-pointers to tie a season-high. The Lumberjacks turned the ball over 18 times and forced 16 turnovers, but the Vaqueros scored 25 points off of NAU's turnovers compared to 10.
Individually, the Lumberjacks had four players score in double figures.
Nik Mains led the way with a season-high 22 points after shooting 7-12 from the field, 4-9 from three-point range and 4-4 from the free throw line with six rebounds. He also moved into ninth all-time on NAU's all-time three-pointers made list.
Jalen Cone added 14 points plus five assists and two steals.
Liam Lloyd (12 points) and
Xavier Fuller (11 points, four assists) were the other two Lumberjacks in double figures.
Carson Towt led the team with nine rebounds, six assists, three steals and a block.
"When you give up 66 percent in the second half and all you talk about is getting them off the free throw line and then they shoot 35 free throws, it's a point to consider. We have to dig deep and figure that out. To give up 66 percent to any team, let alone the teams that we've played, it's unacceptable," said head coach
Shane Burcar. "The message in the locker room was to look at the man in the mirror, myself included. To give up 91 points and lose by 12 – we were up 29-19 and before you knew it, it was 29-29 in the first half. We need to figure that out. It's a gut check at the end of the day. We have to be able to perform in those situations and get stops. I understand we won't make shots all night, but giving up 66 percent is something we'll have to learn from and capitalize on as a learning opportunity."
There were eight lead changes and three ties in the first half. The Lumberjacks pushed the pace early, cruising on a 7-0 run to take an 11-5 lead with five of those points credited to Mains. After the Vaqueros took a brief 13-11 lead, the teams went point-for-point. That would be UTRGV's last lead of the half, as the Lumberjacks found a 13-2 run where they went 4-for-6 from the field with three triples to lead 29-19, forcing UTRGV to take a timeout. Out of the timeout, it was the Vaqueros who found the next run, stringing together 10-straight points to tie the contest 29-29.
Northern Arizona composed itself, outscoring the Vaqueros 12-7 for the remainder of the half to lead 41-35 at the break. During the final five minutes, NAU made five of its last eight field goal attempts and had five different players score. The 'Jacks shot 48.5 percent (16-33) from the field and held the Vaqueros to 10-of-29 (34.5%) during the first period of play. UTRGV was perfect at the free throw line in the first 20 minutes, going 14-for-14 compared to 3-of-4 for the Lumberjacks. NAU had six first half three-pointers but were outrebounded 23-to-14.
UTRGV used a 10-2 run for its first lead since early in the first half, 49-48, to open the second half of play. The game moved into ties of 50-50 and 52-52, and at the second media timeout of the half, the Lumberjacks held a narrow 55-54 lead. From there, both sides exchanged leads down the stretch and with 7:41 left to play, it was the Vaqueros who held the 63-62 lead. With 4:46 to play, the teams were deadlocked at 70-70 after a big answer by Fuller. Less than a minute later, the Vaqueros had taken a 74-70 advantage.
The Lumberjacks came within two points on two more occasions, but with less than three minutes to play, UTRGV used a 10-0 run to sneak ahead 86-74. NAU didn't score from the 2:53 mark until there were 57 seconds left in the game and the lead proved to stretch too big. Although Cone knocked down a triple with under a minute to go, the Lumberjacks fell 91-79.
After the Thanksgiving holiday, the Lumberjacks resume play back at home in Flagstaff. Northern Arizona hosts Abilene Christian on Sunday, Nov. 27, at 1 p.m. before playing Ottawa on Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 6 p.m. Both games will be stream on ESPN+.
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