FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (March 1, 2022) – Hoping to build some momentum going into next week's conference tournament, the Northern Arizona men's basketball team plays their final two regular season games on the road beginning in Cheney, Wash. on Thursday versus Eastern Washington at 7 p.m. MST. The Lumberjacks will conclude the regular season on Saturday at 3 p.m. MST versus Idaho in Moscow, Idaho. Both games will stream on ESPN+ with the radio broadcasts on the Northern Arizona Healthcare NAU Lumberjack Radio Network.
With two games remaining in the regular season, NAU is tied with Sacramento State and Idaho at 5-13 in conference play. The three teams are tied for eighth and Idaho State is a half game behind with only one game remaining at 5-14. Currently, the Lumberjacks (9-20 overall) hold the tiebreaker for eighth by virtue of sweeping the season series with the Hornets and defeating the Vandals in the first head-to-head meeting between the teams on Jan. 17. NAU also swept the season series over Idaho State.
NAU will look to solidify its seed, and snap its longest active losing streak to a Big Sky opponent, on Thursday versus Eastern Washington. A Lumberjack win would be the program's first over the Eagles since March 4, 2017 and end a nine-game skid to Eastern Washington. In contrast, the Lumberjacks have won seven straight over the Vandals, which marks their longest active win streak against a conference foe. Additionally, NAU has won four straight in Moscow, although it will be the Lumberjacks' first trip to the Vandals' new ICCU Arena, which opened this season.
The Lumberjacks' top three scorers all had big games against the Eagles back on Jan. 1, a 78-65 NAU loss, with redshirt sophomore
Keith Haymon leading the way with 19 points. He hit four threes, as did sophomore
Jalen Cone and redshirt junior
Nik Mains who scored 18 and 16 points respectively. In the 74-72 victory over the Vandals last month, Cone and Mains exploded for 24 points each, the latter of which tied Mains' career-high.
Cone leads the team in scoring at 18.2 points per game, third in the Big Sky, with Mains behind at 12.0 points per game. Haymon is averaging 9.2 points per game as the trio each rank in the top 12 of the league in both three-point percentage and three-pointers per game. With the three at the forefront of the Lumberjacks' long range attack, NAU enters the weekend just 12 threes shy of breaking the program record for three-pointers in a season. The current single season record is 263 set during the 1999-2000 season.
In the paint, redshirt freshman
Carson Towt paces the team in both rebounds (8.5) and assists per game (3.8). He also ranks third in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.9.
Eastern Washington (15-14, 9-9 Big Sky) is tied with Portland State for sixth in the conference standings going into the final weekend of the regular season. The Eagles fell to Sacramento State, 81-75, last Saturday on the road, but have won four of their last six games. Eastern Washington is third in the conference in scoring average at 77.2 points per game, which also ranks 45th in the country. The Eagles share the ball extremely well with a Big Sky leading 16.0 assists per game that places them 29th nationally.
Steele Venters is one of the top scorers in the conference averaging 16.6 points per game, ranking him sixth in the league. He has been lethal behind the arc, ranking third amongst qualified shooters, with a .448 three-point percentage. Linton Acliese III forms a 1-2 punch with Venters as he is one spot behind him in the Big Sky with 16.0 points per game. Acliese III, who is also sixth in the conference with 7.2 rebounds per game, leads the conference in field goal percentage at 52.8.
Idaho fell twice last week to Sacramento State, 83-51, and Northern Colorado, 98-94, on its last regular season road trip. However, prior to last week, the Vandals (8-20, 5-13 Big Sky) had won three straight over Weber State, Montana and Eastern Washington in succession. Like NAU, Idaho does a lot of damage behind the arc ranking 22nd in the country in three-point percentage (.378) and just inside the top 100 with 8.2 threes per game.
In conference play, Mikey Dixon is averaging the fifth-most points per game at 17.6, which is slightly better than his overall season average of 16.8. He is one of the best players in the country at getting, and converting, to the free throw line. Ranking 37th in free throw percentage (.870), Dixon is 12th with 147 free throws made and 27th with 169 free throws attempted. Trevante Anderson is second on the team in scoring at 14.7 points per game and averages a team-high 3.2 assists.
The 2022 Big Sky Men's Basketball Tournament begins next Wednesday, March 9 in Boise, Idaho at Idaho Central Arena.
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