FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (February 1, 2023) – The second half of Big Sky Conference play gets underway this week for the Northern Arizona University men's basketball team. The Lumberjacks will rematch two foes in Montana State on Thursday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. Mountain Standard time and then travel to play Montana on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. MST.
The Lumberjacks are coming off an 83-73 victory against Northern Colorado on Jan. 28 where four players scored in double figures, led by
Xavier Fuller with a career-high 25 points. NAU led by as many as 20 in the second half and shot 50 percent from the field overall.
After the win, Northern Arizona improved to 6-16 overall and 2-7 in Big Sky play after snapping a five-game losing streak. Montana State is 15-8 overall and 8-2 in conference action, sitting in second place in the conference. The Grizzlies are 10-12 and 4-6.
Redshirt senior
Nik Mains reached a career milestone two weeks when he became the 31
st member of NAU's 1,000-career point club. Mains has more milestones on the horizon, as he became Northern Arizona's all-time leader in games played on Saturday in his 136
th career contest. He is also tied for sixth all-time on NAU's career-three pointer list with 165 career threes. He is currently sixth on the three-point attempts list with 434, needing four more to tie for fifth.
Junior
Jalen Cone joined Mains on the career three-pointers made list after draining seven against Eastern Washington. He is currently 10
th with 150 made three's, needing one more to tie for ninth, four for eighth, and five for seventh. Cone has 412 career attempts which is sixth all-time. Additionally, Cone has 958 points in his NAU career, just 42 away from becoming the 32
nd member of the Lumberjack men's basketball 1,000-career point club.
Cone averages 17.8 points per game which is fourth in the Big Sky. He averages 2.9 three-pointers per game to rank second in the conference and rank 30
th in all of Division I, making 38.5 percent of his shots from deep which is second. He is making 41.3 percent of his shots from the field and is an 84.5 percent free throw shooter, ranking ninth and first in those categories, respectively. Cone has scored in double figures in 11-straight games and 16 times overall with eight 20-plus point performances.
Xavier Fuller is the other Lumberjack to average double figures with 12.5 points per game and 16.6 in conference play. Fuller has scored in double figures in six-straight games, scoring over 20 points in four of those contests.
Carson Towt leads the Lumberjacks with 8.1 rebounds per game and is the conference leader in offensive boards, pulling down 3.4 per contest which is 24
th in the nation. He also paces NAU with 3.2 assists per game.
As a team, the Lumberjacks are 92
nd in the nation with 8.2 three-pointers per game, making at least six in 18 games and 10 in eight. The Lumberjacks are second in the conference with 14.62 assists per game. NAU is averaging 72.0 points per game overall, 68.2 in conference play, and allowing opponents to score 75.2.
The Bobcats have won three-straight heading into Thursday's matchup. MSU only allows 62.7 points per game in conference play, and rank in the top three in opponent field goal percentage (42.3%), opponent three-point percentage (32.1%), blocks (3.1 per game) and steals (6.3 per game).
RaeQuan Battle (17.1) and Jubrile Belo (12.7) lead the Bobcats in double figures.
MSU leads the all-time series with Northern Arizona, 58-50, most recently beating NAU 69-54 on Jan. 7 in Flagstaff. A win over the Bobcats would be the first for NAU since Dec. 31, 2018, as it has dropped eight-straight to MSU. However, in that span, six of the eight 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 three-straight in Bozeman. Under Burcar, NAU is 0-7.
Montana leads the all-time series, 76-35. 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. Northern Arizona has won two-straight games over Griz in overtime, most recently in a 75-74 romp on Jan. 5 in Flagstaff. NAU has won four out of the last eight contests and are 4-3 under head coach
Shane Burcar.
It will be a quick turnaround for Northern Arizona next week, returning home to Flagstaff to host Idaho State on Monday, Feb. 6 at 6 p.m. Two more home games follow with Sacramento State on Thursday, Feb. 9 and Portland State on Saturday, Feb. 11 for Senior Day.
