FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (December 2, 2024) – The Northern Arizona Basketball (6-2, 0-0 Big Sky) team will head to Oral Roberts (2-3,0-0 Summit) to tip-off the second-annual Big Sky-Summit Challenge on the road with the Golden Eagles on Wednesday, Dec. 4 before hosting the South Dakota Coyotes (6-3, 0-0 Summit) on Saturday, Dec. 7 at Rolle Activity Center.
For the second season in a row, the two leagues will be playing for a combined trophy, taking both men's and women's results into consideration equally from 36 total games. Wednesday evening's matchup is set to start at 6 p.m. MST, live stats can be found
here, and the game can be streamed
here. Saturday's meeting with the Coyotes will tip off at 12 p.m. MST, the game will be streamed on
ESPN+ and live stats can be found
here.
The Lumberjacks will get back into action after a week off game competition, coming off a last-second three-pointer from
Trent McLaughlin against Houston Christian to give Northern Arizona its first-ever victory over the Huskies in a 74-71 final. Through the first eight contests, NAU is shooting 47.2 percent from the field while holding opponents to 40.7 percent. NAU leads the Big Sky and sits seventh in the nation in rebound margin at 11.6. In six games this season the Jacks have tabbed 40+ rebounds, currently averaging 42.3 per contest. Northern Arizona currently leads the Big Sky Conference in fouls per game, while ranking 33
rd in the country averaging 14.6. Atop the Big Sky, NAU averaged 10.6 turnovers per game, ranking 70
th in the country.
Carson Towt has led the Lumberjacks in their rebound success, ranking top 25 in the nation in four different categories. Towt's highest ranking comes at T-7
th in double-double performances with four to start the season, while he ranks 11
th in total rebounds (79), 18
th in rebounds per game (9.9), and 21
st in defensive rebounds (7.0).
Trent McLaughlin joins the national rankings for the Jacks as well, ranking top 35 in three categories, top 15 in two. McLaughlin sits 11
th in both total points (179) and points per game (22.4), while 32
nd in three-point field goals made (25).
Jayden Jackson has begun to heat up in the Jacks last five contests, averaging 15.2 points per game while tabbing his career high in scoring with 23 points against the UIW Cardinals. Jackson followed up the performance with a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds against Eastern Michigan.
Oral Roberts will enter Wednesday's matchup, looking to snap a four-game losing streak, with the Golden Eagles last win coming on Nov. 16. ORU has lost their last four to Belmont, Ole Miss, Rogers State, and Missouri State, falling to the Bears most recently in a five-point loss on Sunday. A win would mark the Lumberjacks first over Oral Roberts, as the Golden Eagles lead the series 4-0, with the last game being played in 2001 where the Jacks fell 70-69.
ORU is led by three players averaging double-digit scoring with Isaac McBride leading the way with 14.8 points a night, closely trailed by Sam Alajiki (14.0) and Darius Robinson Jr. (10.0). The team is shooting 44.9 percent from the field, while allowing a 47.8 filed goal percentage from opponents.
South Dakota will head on the road after hosting Idaho State on Wednesday, as the Coyotes are entering the week off a 96-79 loss to Nebraska. The Coyotes are 1-3 on the road this season. Shooting 46.4 from the field as a team, Chase Forte leads in scoring averaging 12.9 points a game while Issac Bruns averages 18.8 a night. With four total players averaging double-digit scoring, Kaleb Stewart and Dre Bullock round out the group with 10.4 and 10.8 points per game, respectively. South Dakota leads the series at 4-2 overall with the Jacks last victory coming in 2019. The Lumberjacks leads the series in Flagstaff at 2-1.
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