FARMINGTON, Utah (March 3, 2023) – After a solid junior year campaign, Northern Arizona University men's basketball player
Jalen Cone has been named third team All-Big Sky for the second-straight season.
Cone is joined on the third team with Callum McRae (Sacramento State), Brayden Parker (Idaho State), Steven Verplancken (Weber State) and Darius Brown II (Montana State). A full list of the 2022-23 men's basketball All-Conference teams and individual award winners are below.
The Walkertown, N.C., native started 28 of the 29 games he appeared in this season, leading the Lumberjacks with 17.3 points per game. One of the best shooters in the conference, Cone scored in double figures in 24 contests this year, including every conference game except for one. From Dec. 3 to Feb. 16, he scored in double figures in 17-straight games. Of the 24 double-digit contests, 11 were outputs of 20-or-more including two games over 30 points.
On Dec. 17 in an overtime loss to former Big Sky foe Southern Utah, Cone dropped 45 points. The historical performance was one-point off of NAU's single-game scoring record of 46 points, set on Jan. 7, 1956 by Frank Turley against Western New Mexico. The junior was the first Lumberjack to score over 40 points in a game since Cory Schwab dropped 43 at Cal Poly on Dec. 2, 2000. There are only two other 40-plus point performances in program history. Cone's output was also the 14
th-most in single-game Big Sky history, becoming the first player since 2019 conference wide to score at least 40 points in a contest.
Cone's 18 field goals tied a single-game school record that was also set by Turley in 1956, marking a new career-high. His 27 attempts tied for fourth all-time, but Cone already owns NAU's single-game field goal attempts record with 31 set back on Dec. 11, 2021, at South Dakota. His previous career-high of 38 points against Abilene Christian on Dec. 27 ranks seventh all-time in NAU single-game history.
An electric three-point shooter, Cone made at least four three-pointers in nine contests this year, including seven on three different occasions. On the season, he has made 83 three-pointers which is tied for eighth in single-season history. He also cracked NAU's all-time career three-pointers list this season, currently sitting tied for fifth with 176 in just 61 games for Northern Arizona. His 473 career attempts are also fifth and his 209 attempts this season is eighth.
Through 29 games played this season, Cone ranked second in the Big Sky and 44
th across all of Division I in three-point field goal percentage at a 39.7 percent clip. He averages 2.9 three-pointers per game to lead the conference and rank 36
th nationally. In conference-only games, he added a league-high 3.1 makes per game at a 43.1 percent clip.
In all games this season, Cone's points per game average of 17.3 ranked fifth in the Big Sky and 91
st nationally. In 16 conference games, he averaged 16.9 per contest which ranks seventh. In conference-only games, he led the league in free throw percentage, shooting 89.8 percent (44-49) from the charity stripe. His overall percentage of 84.5 percent is 83
rd nationally.
With 502 total points this year, Cone is one point shy of cracking NAU's single-season scoring list for the second-straight season (602 in 2021-22, 2
nd). It took Cone just 56 career games to become NAU's 32
nd member of the 1,000-career point club. He achieved the feat in a win over Sacramento State on Feb. 9 where he scored 25 points and was 7-of-10 from three-point range.
After scoring 393 points in two seasons with Virginia Tech, he has 1,497 career points between the two programs and 1,104 with Northern Arizona exclusively.
In addition to Cone's sharp shooting, he ranked 12
th in the conference with 2.6 assists per game, totaling 74 on the year. He led the team with 33.2 minutes per contest and pulled down 90 rebounds for an average of 3.1 per game. His shooting totals include 166-397 (41.8%) from the field, 83-209 (39.7%) from three-point range, and 87-103 (.845) from the free throw line.
Cone and the rest of the Lumberjacks (9-22, 5-13) are preparing for their first-round matchup against No. 10 Idaho at the Big Sky Championships on Saturday, March 4. Tip is set for 5:30 p.m. Mountain Standard time from Idaho Central Arena in Boise, Idaho, and can be watched on ESPN+. For more information, click
HERE.
2022-23 Men's Basketball All-Conference Team
First Team All-Conference
Steele Venters, Eastern Washington*
Dillon Jones, Weber State*
RaeQuan Battle, Montana State*
Angelo Allegri, Eastern Washington
Josh Bannan, Montana
Second Team All-Conference
Dalton Knecht, Northern Colorado
Isaac Jones, Idaho
Jubrile Belo, Montana State
Cameron Parker, Portland State
Aanen Moody, Montana
Third Team All-Conference
Callum McRae, Sacramento State
Jalen Cone, Northern Arizona
Brayden Parker, Idaho State
Steven Verplancken, Weber State
Darius Brown II, Montana State
All-Conference Honorable Mention
Daylen Kountz, Northern Colorado
Divant'e Moffitt, Idaho
Zach Chappell, Sacramento State
Ethan Price, Eastern Washington
Brock Mackenzie, Idaho State
* Unanimous First Team All-Conference
