FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (February 6, 2023) – The Northern Arizona University men's basketball team led for 29:44 in another close loss today, falling to Idaho State by a score of 75-70 at Findlay Toyota Court in Flagstaff.
After tonight's result, NAU loses its third-straight and drops to 6-19 overall and 2-10 in Big Sky Conference play. Idaho State, who swept the season meetings and won its third-straight over the Lumberjacks, improve to 9-15 and 6-5. Tonight's loss is the seventh-straight result that has been decided by five points or less for Northern Arizona.
Both teams shot 47 percent from the field, with the Lumberjacks making 8-of-18 from three and the Bengals draining 9-of-26. At the free throw line, NAU was 6-for-8 compared to 10-for-13 for ISU. A decisive stat came in the turnover column, where the Lumberjacks turned the ball over 11 times, resulting in 16 points off of their miscues for the Bengals, who only committed five turnovers. NAU won the rebounding battle, 36 to 29.
Carson Towt was 8-of-11 from the field, scoring 16 points to go with eight assists and six rebounds.
Jalen Cone was the other Lumberjack in double figures, finishing with 12 points. On Thursday's game against Sacramento State, Cone will go for his 1,000
th career point as he is just seven shy of the milestone.
The Lumberjacks shot 47 percent in the first half and took a 38-32 lead into the locker room, leading by as many as 11 points. Idaho State outscored NAU 43-32 in the second half and used an 11-0 run with 5:43 remaining. The Lumberjacks retook a two-point lead after a quick 4-0 run, but were held without a field goal for the final 2:48 of the contest as the Bengals completed the comeback victory.
"Here we are again, sitting here. We had a nice lead in the game, we were up 11 for our biggest lead. I'm lost for words right now as far as what to say. With that being said, my responsibility tonight as a team is to get better tonight as a team and be ready to present it tomorrow," said head coach
Shane Burcar. "Our guys are battling, but we aren't getting the results that we want. We have a high-character locker room in guys that are working hard, and a lot of competitors. It's a tough stretch, but we aren't going to make any excuses about it."
A 9-0 run that included five points from Cone helped the Lumberjacks settle in to an early 15-4 lead. A quick 8-0 run by the Bengals in response trimmed the deficit down to three points, 15-12 and the game eventually moved in to a 19-19 tie. Both teams went shot-for-shot and were locked at 28-28, but it was NAU who pulled away first. A
Nik Mains' corner three-pointer helped the Lumberjacks take a 38-32 lead into the locker room.
Layups by Towt and
Xavier Fuller to open the second half of play stretched a 42-32 lead over ISU. The Lumberjacks stayed in control down the stretch and a 5-0 run that included a triple from Cone and a dunk from Towt made it a 61-51 lead with 10:10 to play.
That's when the Bengals started to heat up, exploding on an 11-0 run to take a 62-61 lead. A three-pointer by Trenton McLaughlin stopped the run to put the lead back in NAU's hands, but from there ISU went on a 7-0 run for its largest lead of the night at 69-64. Four quick points put NAU back in the lead, 69-68, but the Bengals answered with four points of their own. The Lumberjacks' final points would come from the free throw line as they were held without a field goal for the final 2:48 of the contest and ISU held on for the five-point win.
Northern Arizona will look to bounce back with two more home games this week, hosting Sacramento State on Thursday at 6 p.m. Mountain Standard time and Portland State on Saturday at 2 p.m. MST, with
Nik Mains and
Xavier Fuller honored pre-game for Senior Day. If fans bring a non-perishable food item to either game, they will receive free admission.
