| Northern Arizona Men's Basketball |
| GAME 27 |
Northern Arizona at Eastern Washington (Thursday, Feb. 16 | 7 p.m. MST) |
|
Video | Live Stats | Listen | Game Notes |
| LOCATION |
Cheney, Wash. | Reese Court |
| TV |
ESPN+ | Plus.ESPN.com |
| GAME 28 |
Northern Arizona at Idaho (Saturday, Feb. 18 | 1 p.m. MST) |
|
Video | Live Stats | Listen | Game Notes |
| LOCATION |
Moscow, Idaho | ICCU Arena
|
| TV |
ESPN+ | Plus.ESPN.com |
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (February 14, 2023) – The Northern Arizona University men's basketball team is preparing for its final regular season road trip of the year which includes three games. This week, the Lumberjacks face Eastern Washington in Cheney, Wash., on Thursday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. Mountain Standard time. They then make the quick trip to Moscow, Idaho, to face the Idaho Vandals on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 1 p.m. MST.
The following week NAU has a lone game on Saturday, Feb. 25 against Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colo., before the final regular season game takes place on Monday, Feb. 27, against Weber State at home.
Last week, the Lumberjacks faced three Big Sky Conference opponents and started the week with a 75-70 loss to Idaho State before bouncing back for a 77-55 victory over Sacramento State. On Saturday against Portland State, Northern Arizona used a 9-0 run in the final minute and a half and appeared to win after
Liam Lloyd drained the game-winning three-pointer with under five seconds left. After review, .4 seconds were added to the clock and PSU was able to complete a cross-court pass off of the inbound and bank it in for the 88-87 win.
The last eight of NAU's losses have been decided by five points or less, and a combined 20 points. Two of those losses include an 88-83 loss to Idaho on Jan. 19 and a 79-76 loss to Eastern Washington on Jan. 21, both at home. The Lumberjacks sit at 7-20 overall and 3-11 in Big Sky play.
On Thursday, Northern Arizona will look to snap the nation's longest Division I men's basketball winning streak as the Eagles have rolled off 15-straight wins and are a perfect 13-0 in conference action and are undefeated at home. Idaho is 9-17 and 3-10 in the Big Sky.
Last week against Sacramento State,
Jalen Cone shot 7-for-10 from three-point range and scored 25 points, becoming NAU's 32
nd member of the 1,000-point club in only 56 games. The junior leads the Lumberjacks with 17.1 points per game, which is fifth in the conference. He is the Big Sky's leader in free throw percentage (85.4%) and three-pointers per game (2.8), ranking 63
rd and 46
th in the nation, respectively.
Cone has scored in double figures in 16-straight games, scoring over 20 points in seven of those contests. With 163 career three-pointers, Cone needs just one more to tie for sixth on NAU's all-time career three-pointer list.
The other Lumberjack to average double figures is
Xavier Fuller with 12.7 overall and 15.5 in Big Sky play. He has scored in double figures 10 times during conference play and also leads NAU in both blocks and steals per game.
Carson Towt is one of the nation's best rebounders, ranking 26
th nationally and first in the Big Sky with 3.4 offensive rebounds per game. He is also 50
th in total rebounds (215) and 94
th with 8.0 boards per game. After scoring in double figures in four out of the last six games, Towt is nearly averaging a double-double with 9.7 points per contest.
Against Sacramento State, the Lumberjacks drained a season-high 15 three-pointers and rank third in the conference with 8.1 per game. NAU is one of the best teams in the conference at protecting the basketball, only committing 11.2 turnovers per game. In the last nine games, the Lumberjacks have turned the over less than 11 times on eight occasions. NAU averages 72.3 points per game at a 42.7 percent clip.
Eastern Washington has a balanced attack with four players averaging double figures, led by Steele Venters with 15.1 points per game. Just like NAU, the Eagles like to shoot from a distance, making 8.5 triples per game. When the squads faced off earlier this year, they were a combined 25-64 from three-point range with the Lumberjacks making 14 and Eastern making 11. Eastern Washington leads the Big Sky with 76.9 points per game, a mark that ranks 56
th nationally. It holds opponents to 70.7 points per game and shoots at 48.9 percent clip to lead the conference, compared to 41.6 percent for opponents.
With a win over Eastern Washington on Thursday, the Lumberjacks would snap a 12-game losing streak to the Eagles. Northern Arizona has not beat EWU since March 4, 2017, in Flagstaff. The Eagles have also beat NAU in two-straight Big Sky Tournament games, ending the Lumberjacks' season in consecutive years. Dating back to 2013, NAU has only won three out of the last 21 matchups and are winless under head coach
Shane Burcar. The Lumberjacks have not won in Cheney since Jan. 15, 2010. The last three meetings have been decided by less than 10 points.
Since beating Northern Arizona, Idaho has gone 1-6 with the lone win coming in overtime against Sacramento State. The Vandals are led by Isaac Jones and Divant'e Moffitt who deliver the one-two punch of 19.8 and 18.6 points per game, respectively. In the last meeting, Jones and Moffitt combined for 55 points against NAU. Jones shoots 64.8 percent from the field to rank 10
th in the nation. The Vandals have a high-powered offense, averaging 75.5 points per game. Idaho is also good at getting to the free throw line, averaging 15.0 free throws per game. It is reliable when it gets there, too, shooting 76.2 percent from the charity stripe which is 26
th nationally.
The Vandals lead the all-time series, 42-28, and although the Lumberjacks have dropped two-straight to Idaho, they have still won seven out of the last 10 matchups. In Moscow, NAU is just 10-26 all-time. Last season, the Lumberjacks won 74-72 at home, but lost 78-69 in Moscow, Idaho, to end the regular season. Prior to last season's loss, Northern Arizona had won seven-straight over Idaho. The Lumberjacks are 5-2 all-time against the Vandals under head coach
Shane Burcar.
Following this week's slate, NAU has a rare Thursday night off and will resume action on Saturday, Feb. 25 at Northern Colorado with tip-off set for 1 p.m. Mountain Standard time. After playing Weber State at home on Feb. 27, the Lumberjacks set their sights on the Big Sky Championships that run from March 4-8 at the ICCU Arena in Boise, Idaho. For more information on the championships, including a bracket, hotel, and ticket information, click
HERE.
