| Northern Arizona Men's Basketball |
| GAME 16 |
Northern Arizona vs. Montana (Thursday, Jan. 5 | 6 p.m. MST) |
|
Video | Live Stats | Listen | Game Notes (PDF) |
| LOCATION |
Flagstaff, Ariz. | Findaly Toyota Court |
| TV |
ESPN+ | Plus.ESPN.com |
| GAME 17 |
Northern Arizona vs. Montana State (Saturday, Jan. 7 | 2 p.m. MST) |
|
Video | Live Stats | Listen | Game Notes (PDF) |
| LOCATION |
Flagstaff, Ariz. | Findaly Toyota Court
|
| TV |
ESPN+ | Plus.ESPN.com |
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (January 3, 2023) – Back at home for the first time since Dec. 10, the Northern Arizona University men's basketball team continues Big Sky Conference play this week. The Lumberjacks host Montana on Thursday, Jan. 5 at 6 p.m. Mountain Standard time before taking on Montana State on Saturday, Jan. 7 at 2 p.m. MST. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+ from Findlay Toyota Court at the Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff, Ariz.
The Lumberjacks are coming off two road losses at Idaho State and Weber State to open conference action last week. Prior to that, NAU suffered consecutive overtime losses to Utah Valley and at Southern Utah. Currently sitting at 4-11 overall and 0-2 in Big Sky play, the Lumberjacks will look to snap a four-game losing streak with their last win coming on Dec. 6 at Pacific. At home this year, Northern Arizona is 3-2.
Montana is 7-7 on the year with a 1-1 mark in conference action, dropping a game to Eastern Washington but bouncing back to defeat Idaho at home. The Griz are just 1-5 on the road this season and have won three out of their last five games.
The Bobcats also lost to EWU but beat Idaho at home last week, sitting at 8-7 overall and 1-1 in Big Sky play. Montana State, the defending regular season and tournament champions, play at Northern Colorado on Thursday before coming to Flagstaff.
Northern Arizona is paced by redshirt junior
Jalen Cone who ranks fourth in the Big Sky with 17.2 points per game, including 13.0 in conference action. A sharpshooter, Cone leads the league in three-point field goal percentage with a .369 clip (38-103). He averages a conference-leading 2.5 three-pointers per game. He is also ninth in field goal percentage (41.7%) and sixth in free throw percentage (81.4%).
Cone has scored in double figures in six-straight games including 10 out of 15 contests. He has scored over 20 points in five games, including a 45-point performance at Southern Utah on Dec. 17. He ranks second on the team with 2.7 assists per game.
Carson Towt leads the Lumberjacks in rebounds (8.1), assists (3.7) and blocks (0.5) while adding 8.6 points per game. Towt leads the league and ranks 12
th nationally with 3.7 offensive rebounds per game.
Nik Mains adds 8.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per game and is just 26 points away from becoming the 31
st member of NAU's 1,000 career point club.
Xavier Fuller averages 9.8 points per game, scoring in double figures in eight out of the last 10 games. He paces NAU with one steal per game.
As a squad, the Lumberjacks lead the conference and rank 55
th nationally with 15.7 assists per game. Their assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.28 is also a league-high and 59
th in the country. Northern Arizona racks up 8.4 three-pointers per game, a mark that ranks 80
th in Division I, making at least six in 13 games this year and at least nine in seven.
The Lumberjacks score 72.2 points per game at a 42.1 percent clip while holding opponents to 75.9 points per game. On the rebounding front, NAU pulls down an average of 35.6 per game lead the Big Sky with 11.2 offensive boards per contest.
Four players average double figures for the Griz, led by Josh Bannan (16.3) and Aanen Moody (14.5). Bannan pulls down 8.6 rebounds per game which ranks 50
th nationally. His defensive rebound average of 6.57 is 32nd. He is also the team's leader in assists per game with 3.1.
The Grizzlies average 69.1 points per game and hold opponents to 69.2. They hold their opponents to just 29.8 from three-point range which is 56
th nationally.
Montana leads the all-time series, 76-34 and are 29-21 all-time in Flagstaff. Last season, NAU lost to the Griz at home by a score of 58-48 but bounced back and beat UM in overtime by a score of 72-67 in Missoula a few weeks later. The win snapped a 14-game home winning streak for the Grizzlies. The last win in Flagstaff over Montana came by one point back on Feb. 27, 2020. NAU has won three out of the last seven contests and are 3-3 under head coach
Shane Burcar.
The Bobcats finished non-conference play 7-6 and have won three out of their last five games. MSU also played Southern Utah during non-conference action, winning 86-83 on the road. Three Bobcats average in double figures, led by RaeQuan Battle with 16.7 points per game at a clip of 46.5. Jubrile Belo averages 12.7 per game and leads the team with 5.8 rebounds per game. Darius Brown II ranks 57
th in the nation with 4.8 assists per game.
Montana State averages 76.6 points per game with a field goal percentage of 47.4 percent which is second in the Big Sky. The Bobcats are third in the conference with 35.6 points per game. MSU also has depth, as it bench scores an average of 30.6 points per game which is 17
th nationally.
MSU leads the all-time series with Northern Arizona, 57-50, but the Lumberjacks own a 35-19 overall record in Flagstaff. A win over the Bobcats would be the first for NAU since Dec. 31, 2018, as it has dropped seven-straight to MSU. However, in that span, six of the seven losses have been decided by six points or less. Last season, the Lumberjacks lost 89-84 in Flagstaff and 72-70 in Bozeman. The Lumberjacks have lost four-straight in Flagstaff and have won two out of the last 10 matchups. Under Burcar, NAU is 0-6.
The Lumberjacks return to the road to play at Portland State (Jan. 12) and Sacramento State (Jan. 14). It's then back to Flagstaff for three-straight games to close out the month of January and the first half of Big Sky play at Findlay Toyota Court. NAU hosts Idaho and Eastern Washington before closing with Northern Colorado on Jan. 28.
