Turnovers Plague Men’s Basketball in Narrow 68-67 Loss to Portland State

PORTLAND, Ore. (February 17, 2022) – For a second straight game, the Northern Arizona men's basketball team fell short by a single possession in a 68-67 road loss to Portland State on Thursday. The Lumberjacks' ledger dropped to 9-17 overall and 5-10 in the Big Sky, while the Vikings improved to 9-15 and 7-9 in the league.
 
The game was decided by a single column in the box score: turnovers. The Lumberjacks committed 24 to the Vikings' 12 and as a result, Portland State notched a significant 25-9 advantage on points off turnovers.
 
"What jumps out is the 24 turnovers," said head coach Shane Burcar. "We had 16 turnovers in the first half, eight in the second half and that is hard to win any game. They are one of the best teams in the league in forcing turnovers, but I didn't think we played with poise in the first half and in the second half we had some bad turnovers. That is what is hurting us."
 
Outside of the turnover column, NAU shot 45.5 percent from the field – its highest field goal percentage in seven games. The Lumberjacks made 10 threes to just three by the Vikings and dominated the glass, outrebounding Portland State, 41-23. Thirteen of NAU's 41 boards were on the offensive end – six by redshirt freshman Carson Towt – and helped NAU hold a 16-4 edge in second chance points.
 
In large part to NAU's offensive rebound total, the Lumberjacks still managed to take three more shot attempts from the field despite the -12 turnover margin. But the turnovers were simply too much to overcome.
 
"We need to regroup from this to lose this game by one," Burcar said. "We had chances to win the game as poorly as we played. We had a couple of wide-open shots and unfortunately they didn't fall."
 
NAU nearly overcame a deficit as large as 13 and a 10-point deficit, 60-50, with 4:16 remaining to steal the victory away from Portland State. Redshirt junior Nik Mains tied the game at 64-64 with a three with just under two minutes to play, but Portland State's Khalid Thomas snapped the tie with a layup on the next possession. After an empty NAU possession, Portland State hit two free throws to make it a 68-64 game. Redshirt sophomore Keith Haymon connected on a trey with 0.7 seconds left, but that proved to be the final margin.
 
The first half was a messy 20 minutes for NAU, ultimately leading to a hole that the 'Jacks could not dig out of it. Sixteen turnovers led directly to 22 Portland State points, but the Lumberjacks still found themselves down just 34-25 at the break following consecutive baskets by Mains and Towt prior to the half.
 
The Vikings scored the first six points of the game and led through the entirety of the first half. Portland State's lead stood at 13-4 seven minutes into the game before sophomore Jalen Cone drilled a three to bring NAU within 15-14 three minutes later.
 
The 'Jacks remained within a possession, 21-19, at the 6:15 mark following a triple by Haymon, only for the Vikings to score the next 10 points as part of a greater 13-2 run before Mains and Towt's scores heading into halftime.
 
NAU surged out of the second half gates with Cone, who scored 14 of his team-high 19 points after halftime, slicing the Portland State lead to 40-38 with a three just four minutes into the period. Although NAU hung around for the next nine minutes, the Lumberjacks were never able to square up the Vikings.
 
Following a putback by Towt, which made it a 53-50 game with 7:16 remaining, the Vikings went on a 7-0 run over the next three minutes to reopen a double-digit advantage. However, the Lumberjacks had one more run in them sparked by a three-point play by redshirt junior Jay Green.
 
Cone then erupted for seven points on consecutive possessions – the last four coming on an and-1 on a three-point make – which brought NAU within 62-61 with 2:54 left. That preceded Mains' three that tied the score at 64-64 – the only tie of the evening – but the 'Jacks could not get over the top in its third loss by two points or less in the last two weeks.
 
Cone drilled 5-of-10 from the three-point line in a performance that moved him into a couple of NAU top 10 single-season lists. With his 19 points, Cone's season total sits at 493, tying him at the moment with Ruben Boykin, Jr. (2006-07) for 10th-most points in season. Meanwhile, his five threes upped his total to 83, tying him for seventh in a season with Ross Land (1998-99).
 
He was one of four Lumberjacks in double-figure scoring followed by Haymon (13), Green (11) and Mains (10). Green's 11 points marked a season-high, as he also finished with an all-around line of four rebounds, three assists and two steals in a season-high 28 minutes off the bench.
 
Towt finished two points shy of his third double-double of the season with eight points and 10 rebounds. Haymon and Mains both pulled down eight boards with it being a career-high for the former as part of NAU's best rebounding margin (+18) this season versus a Division I opponent.
 
NAU will open its final homestand on Monday in the Walkup Skydome versus Southern Utah at 6 p.m. The game will begin a three-game homestand over the next week, also featuring games versus Idaho State next Thursday at 6 p.m. and Weber State next Saturday at 2 p.m.
 
To stay up to date with the NAU men's basketball team, follow the Lumberjacks on Twitter and Instagram.