FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (February 9, 2023) – The Northern Arizona University men's basketball team never trailed in a 77-55 victory over Sacramento State on Thursday night at Findlay Toyota Court in Flagstaff. The Lumberjacks opened the game on a 6-0 run and never looked back, leading by as many as 24 points and shooting 55.6 percent from three-point range (15-27).
Jalen Cone had nearly half of the team's season-high 15 three-pointers, making 7-of-10 and ending the night with 25 points. Cone also cemented himself into NAU's 1,000-career point club in just 56 games as a Lumberjack. After scoring 393 in two years with Virginia Tech, his career total between the two programs is now 1,411.
"Jalen hit 1,000 points tonight. Which is quite an accomplishment in under two seasons. There are games where he'll shoot three times and games where he'll shoot eight times, but it's never about scoring the basketball for Jalen, it's about winning games," said head coach
Shane Burcar.
Nik Mains played his best conference game of the season thus far, finishing just short of a double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds, making 7-of-9 from the field, 2-of-2 from three-point range and 1-of-1 from the free throw line.
Xavier Fuller rounded out the scoring with 11 points, leading the way with four assists.
Tonight's win snapped a three-game losing streak for Northern Arizona, who improves to 7-19 overall and 3-10 in Big Sky Conference play. The Hornets drop to 12-13 and 5-7, losing their fourth-straight game. The two squads split the season meetings, with each team picking up a win on their home floor. NAU lost to Sacramento State on Jan. 14 by a score of 59-56.
The Lumberjacks only committed six turnovers and forced 12. They held the Hornets to just 37.7 percent (20-53) from the field and shot 47.5 percent (28-59) themselves.
"A great win by us tonight, I'm really happy for our guys. Our first key of the game tonight was having a winning mindset. As everybody knows, we've had some tough games, but we have tough players who aren't giving up on one another and are continuing to have a great season, we have so much to play for," added Burcar. "Everybody played well. All 10 of our players played in the first half and contributed to our success.
Diego Campisano came in there and
Keith Haymon also had a great game."
Cone scored seven of NAU's first nine points, joining the 1,000-point club early in the night. The defense locked down and kept the Hornets off of the scoreboard until the 15:06 mark after missing their first four shots from the field while NAU made six out of its first 10 shots. A 7-0 run, that included five points from
Keith Haymon off of the bench, helped the Lumberjacks open up a 16 point lead. Cone ended the half with consecutive triples and after shooting 50 percent from the field and holding Sacramento State to 30.8 percent, the Lumberjacks had a healthy 43-22 lead at the break.
The Lumberjacks continued to roll in the second half, and two-straight triples from Trenton McLaughlin and Mains gave NAU a 68-44 lead for the largest advantage of the night with 6:48 left to play. Mains also used a 5-0 run of his own late in the game to expand the lead out to 77-53. Northern Arizona was 8-of-12 from three-point range in the second half and never made it to the free throw line, making 44.8 percent of its shots from the field.
Northern Arizona looks to make it two-straight wins on Saturday, Feb. 11, when it hosts Portland State at 2 p.m. Mountain Standard time. Prior to the game, NAU will recognize Mains and Fuller for Senior Day.
