FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (January 19, 2023) – The Northern Arizona University men's basketball team hosted the Idaho Vandals tonight at Findlay Toyota Court in Flagstaff, Ariz., where they came up short, 88-83. It was the third-straight loss for NAU that was decided by five points or less.
At the half, NAU trailed 47-36 and came out to outscore the Vandals 47-41 in the second half and led by two points with 3:03 to go. Idaho hung on to outscore Northern Arizona 10-6 in the final three minutes to hang on for the win.
After tonight's loss, Northern Arizona falls to 5-15 overall with a 1-6 mark in Big Sky Conference play. Idaho won its second-straight over the Lumberjacks and improve to 8-12 overall and 2-5.
Jalen Cone, who missed the two previous games due to illness, returned off of the bench tonight to lead the Lumberjacks with 22 points and five assists. He was 7-of-17 from the field and 5-of-13 from three-point range.
Xavier Fuller (12 points),
Carson Towt (11 points) and Trenton McLaughlin (11 points) also scored in double figures.
Every Lumberjack who saw playing time tonight scored, as the NAU bench poured on 40 points.
Nik Mains reached a career milestone tonight when he scored seven points to become the 31
st member of NAU's 1,000-career point club in his 134
th career game.
Idaho's Isaac Jones (30 points) and Divant'e Moffitt (25 points) combined for 55 of the Vandals' points tonight.
It was a battle in the paint, as NAU scored 42 points and Idaho had 40. The Vandals shot 56.6 percent from the field and held NAU to 46.4 percent. The Lumberjacks made 11 three-pointers for a season-high in conference-only games. Idaho was 21-of-27 from the free throw line compared to 8-of-10 for NAU.
"Unfortunately, it's the same story. The last four games we've gotten off to tough starts and it has a lot to do with our defense. We have to defend better, and for them (Idaho) to shoot 60 percent in the first half, we're chasing. We scored the ball pretty well in both halves, but to give up 47 points in the first half and be chasing the whole time, you aren't going to have success after that," said head coach
Shane Burcar. "Our last few games we've had good defensive efforts in the second half. More than anything, we have to figure things out on the defensive end. I know our guys are trying and we'll keep going at it and get ready for Saturday."
Tonight was a high-scoring affair from the start, as Idaho led 14-10 by the first media timeout. Idaho would keep the edge for the entirety of the first half, leading by as many as 15 points with 1:24 to go after a 9-0 run. At the half, the Lumberjacks trailed 47-36.
A quick 5-0 run thanks to a triple by Cone and a layup by
Jack Wistrcill trimmed the lead down to seven points, 55-48. With 10:26 to play, the Lumberjacks started to come alive when Cone and
Keith Haymon hit back-to-back triples to make it a two-possession contest, 62-58 in Idaho's favor.
A Mains triple put the Lumberjacks down by a point with 8:02 to play before Idaho pulled back ahead by four points. NAU's first lead of the night came after a McLaughlin three-pointer and a fastbreak dunk by Fuller, 68-67, with 7:13 left to play. The game would move into a 73-73 tie and the Lumberjacks would lead by a possession on two more occasions, but could never pull away, finding its last lead of 78-76 with 3:03 left to play.
After a 78-78 tie, Idaho strung together a mini 5-2 run to lead 88-80. Proving that Northern Arizona still had no quit, McLaughlin hit a three-pointer at the buzzer, but the Lumberjacks would fall 88-83.
Northern Arizona welcomes the Eastern Washington Eagles to town on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 2 p.m. at Findlay Toyota Court. The Eagles are coming off a victory at Northern Colorado tonight and are a league-best, perfect, 7-0 in Big Sky play.
