| Northern Arizona Men's Basketball |
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (March 1, 2023) – It's a brand new season for the Northern Arizona University men's basketball team. The No. 9 Lumberjacks head to Boise, Idaho, for the Big Sky Conference Championships on March 4-8 at the Idaho Central Arena and take on No. 10 Idaho in the first round on Saturday, March 4 at 5:30 p.m. Mountain Standard time.
With a win, NAU will face the regular season champions in Eastern Washington in the quarterfinals on Sunday, March 5 at 5:30 p.m. MST. The semifinals are set for Tuesday, March 7 at 6:30 p.m. MST with the championship game slated for Wednesday, March 8 at 9:30 p.m. MST. All games will be streamed on ESPN+ with the semifinal aired on ESPNU and the championship game on ESPN2. NAU's radio broadcast will be on the NAU Lumberjack Radio Network.
NAU ended the regular season 9-22 overall and 5-13 in Big Sky play. However, the 'Jacks would advise to not let the record fool you, as 10 of its 13 conference losses have been decided by five points or less, with four of those being decided by a single point. Between the viral buzzer beaters and overtime heartbreakers, the Lumberjacks have lost to each team, besides Northern Colorado which it swept in the regular season, by less than five points on at least one occasion this year.
Northern Arizona earned the No. 9 seed, its highest in the last three seasons, and will be facing No. 10 Idaho for the first time ever in the postseason. It also marks the first time NAU has ever faced a No. 10 seed. In 30 appearances, the Lumberjacks are 16-28 all-time.
The Lumberjacks have won two championships in 1998 and again in 2000, finishing runner-up six times. It has not made a championship appearance since 2008 when it lost to Portland State by a score of 67-51. Since then, NAU has lost in the first round nine times in the last 12 appearances.
Its last win was in 2021 where it topped Portland State by a score of 77-66 before losing to Eastern Washington in the quarterfinal. In fact, Northern Arizona has lost to the Eagles in two-straight tournaments, both of which were decided by less than six points. Last season, No. 11 Northern Arizona nearly topped No. 6 Eastern Washington, leading for 16 minutes in the second half, before falling 78-75.
Idaho ended the regular season 10-21 overall and 4-14 in Big Sky play. The Vandals lost their final four regular season games, one of which came by the hands of Northern Arizona. Idaho and NAU split the regular season meetings, with the Vandals winning 88-83 in Flagstaff on Jan. 19 while the Lumberjacks cruised to a 72-50 victory in Moscow on Feb. 18. In the victory, Northern Arizona shot 52.6 percent from the field with nine triples.
Idaho leads the all-time series, 43-28, but Northern Arizona has won eight out of the last 10. The two teams have never met on a neutral court, and the Lumberjacks are 6-2 all-time against the Vandals under head coach
Shane Burcar.
The Lumberjacks are led by junior
Jalen Cone who ranks fifth in the conference with 17.3 points per game and seventh in conference-only games with 16.9. Cone is coming off consecutive 25-plus point scoring games, scoring 26 in a win over Northern Colorado and 29 against Weber State. In conference-only games, he leads the conference in free throw percentage (44-49, 89.8%) and in three-pointers per game with 3.1 while shooting 43.1 percent from three-point range which ranks second.
Cone has 83 three-pointers total this year which is currently tied for eighth in NAU single-season history and his 175 career triples are tied for fifth. He has scored in double figures in every conference game except for one.
Xavier Fuller is the other Lumberjack to average double figures with 12.8 points per game overall and 15 in Big Sky only games. He scored in double figures in 14 conference games, including five with 20 or more. Fuller is shooting 44.5 percent from the field in conference games and 88.7 percent from the free throw line.
Carson Towt has led the league in offensive rebounds all season long and leads the 'Jacks with 7.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game while adding 9.7 points per contest. He shoots 51.4 percent from the field.
As a team in conference only contests, NAU averages 71.3 points per game and allows 73.3. They have the lowest field goal percentage in the league at 43.9 percent and allow opponents to shoot at a 48.6 percent clip. The Lumberjacks are one of the best three-point shooting teams in the league, averaging 7.9 triples per game at a 37.7 percentage. They average 8.9 offensive rebounds and 13.3 assists per game.
Idaho's Divant'e Moffitt and Isaac Jones lead the charge for the Vandal offense, just one of three Division I duos to each average more than 18 points per game. Jones averages 19.4 points per game at a 64.3 percent clip, while Moffitt adds 18.3. Idaho has one of the most efficient offenses in the Big Sky, shooting 47.3 percent from the field and averaging the fourth-most points with 73.5 The Vandals have shot over 50 percent from the field in 12 games this year.
