CEDAR CITY, Utah (December 17, 2022) – In the highest-scoring matchup in 42 meetings between the two squads, the Northern Arizona University men's basketball team fell at Southern Utah in overtime today by a score of 106-101.
Southern Utah, who just moved over to the Western Athletic Conference from the Big Sky Conference, has now won five-straight over the Lumberjacks. Northern Arizona concludes non-conference play 4-9 overall while the Thunderbirds improve to 8-4.
This was the second-straight game where the Lumberjacks fell by five points in overtime, falling to Utah Valley 80-75 last Saturday in Flagstaff.
A bright spot in today's loss was
Jalen Cone, who scored a career-high 45 points on 18-of-27 from the field. Forty of his points came in regulation, and the total is just one point off the single-game scoring record of 46 points that has stood since 1956. It's the 14
th-most in Big Sky single-game history. His 18 made field goals ties the program record, which has also stood since 1956, and he is the first Lumberjack to score 40 points in a game since Cory Schwab had 43 in 2000 at Cal Poly. He was 6-of-11 from three-point range and 3-of-5 from the free throw line.
A blaring statistic in today's contest came at the free throw line, where Southern Utah was 42-of-51 compared to 13-of-21 for Northern Arizona. NAU shot 52.6 percent from the field in the second half, ending the game with a 48.1 percentage overall (39-81). The Thunderbirds shot 50 percent (29-58) from the field. The Lumberjacks had 10 steals in today's game and out-rebounded the Thunderbirds, 43-to-37.
The game was closely contested with 19 lead changes and 13 ties, as NAU led for 26:26. At the half, the Lumberjacks led 41-40. With 23 seconds left in regulation, Northern Arizona trailed 88-91. Cone made a layup to come within a point before SUU made a free throw attempt to pull ahead 92-90. With 1.9 seconds to play, Cone made a layup to send the game to overtime for the second-consecutive contest. In overtime, Northern Arizona led 101-97 before SUU made three free throw attempts to come within a point. The Thunderbirds would outscore NAU 14-9 in the overtime period in route to their victory.
"It hurts. We had a four-point lead in overtime and couldn't hold it. I think we had one stop defensively in overtime. To state the obvious, 51 free throw attempts to 21 free throw attempts, that's going to be hard to overcome no matter what you do," said head coach
Shane Burcar. "Jalen was phenomenal the whole night. To score 45 points, but it doesn't mean anything when you lose the game. That's the type of performance you want to celebrate with a win."
Individually, three other Lumberjacks scored in double figures in
Xavier Fuller (14),
Carson Towt (10 points, five assists, six rebounds) and
Oakland Fort (10).
Nik Mains added nine points and eight rebounds, and
Liam Lloyd led the way with six assists and three steals.
Northern Arizona jumped out to a 5-0 lead and used another 4-0 run for an early 9-3 advantage. Southern Utah got within two points, 12-10, before a Cone three-pointer put NAU up 14-10 heading into the first media timeout. After the break, SUU scored five-straight points for its first lead of the half, 15-14.
The two sides would exchange leads and baskets before the contest moved into a 24-24 tie. Towt used a 4-0 run of his own to give NAU a 28-24 lead. With six minutes left to play, the Lumberjacks led 35-30.
Northern Arizona continued to hold the advantage until the Thunderbirds hit a pair from the line to take a 40-38 lead with a minute to play in the half. However, the lead was short lived as Cone immediately worked his way through traffic on the other end for the score, giving NAU a 41-40 lead at the half.
Both teams shot 50 percent from the field in the first period, with NAU making 17-of-38, led by 14 first half points by Cone and 10 by Towt. The Lumberjacks forced five turnovers in a first half that also saw eight lead changes.
Out of the half, SUU took a 43-41 lead before Cone scored four-straight points for the 45-43 advantage. From there, the Thunderbirds found five-straight points of their own to pull ahead 48-45.
The two teams battled down the stretch, exchanging leads and finding themselves deadlocked at 54-54 and 58-58. Northern Arizona used a 4-0 run to lead 62-58, but the Thunderbirds quickly responded with a 6-0 run for the 63-62 advantage before the game moved back into a 64-64 tie after another jumper from Cone.
From there, the Thunderbirds went on a 7-2 run for their largest lead of the game, 71-66 with eight minutes left to play. A triple by Cone would put the Lumberjacks back in the game with a three-pointer, making it a two-point, 71-69 game. Cone and Trenton McLaughlin hit consecutive three-pointers for a 6-0 run to put NAU ahead 77-75 before SUU responded with a 7-0 spurt to retake the lead.
Fort and Mains made consecutive buckets for an 82-82 tie. Southern Utah went back ahead 87-82 after a 5-0 run before Fuller stopped the run with a three-point play to put NAU within two points with two minutes left to play.
With 55 seconds on the clock, Cone drained his fifth three-pointer of the game to put NAU within one point, 89-88. The Thunderbirds pulled ahead 90-88 with 23 seconds left and NAU missed two chances to tie the game at the free throw line. Southern Utah went down to the other end and made 1-of-2 from the charity stripe, making it 91-88 contest in favor of SUU.
With six seconds left, Cone made a layup to make it a 91-90 game before SUU headed to the line and made a free throw. With 1.9 seconds on the clock, Cone drove through the lane and made a contested layup that wound up sending the teams to overtime tied 92-92.
Mains scored the first basket in overtime and the Lumberjacks led 101-97 with 1:56 remaining after Cone hit a pair of free throws. Southern Utah was fouled shooting a three-pointer, and made all three attempts from the line, cutting the lead to 101-100. The Thunderbirds ended the game on a 9-0 run, outscoring NAU 14-9 in the overtime period.
Northern Arizona now turns its focus to Big Sky play which begins on Dec. 29 at Idaho State at 6 p.m. Mountain Standard time. The Lumberjacks go on to play at Weber State on Dec. 31 before hosting Montana (Jan. 5) and Montana State (Jan. 7) at Findlay Toyota Court in the Skydome.
