FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (February 13, 2024) – NAU Basketball (11-14, 4-7) is set to head on the road for the first time in four games, looking for season sweeps over the Sacramento State Hornets (6-19, 2-10), and the Portland State Vikings (14-11, 5-7) this week.
Picking up their first victory over the Montana State Bobcats in the
Shane Burcar era, and snapping a 11-game losing streak to the Cats, the Jacks are back in the win column with a crucial home victory this past Saturday, 76-71. With seven Big Sky regular season meetings left on slate, NAU will look to start a win streak this week with a pair of road games, NAU will look to sweep the Hornets after a 70-61 January meeting, alongside a sweep to the Vikings after an 84-65 January meeting.
As a team, the Jacks are currently shooting 43.4 percent from the field through 25 games, while averaging 48.1 percent in their last six games. An area of strong suits for NAU has come on fast break points, going +53 in the last eight meetings. The Lumberjacks have recently capitalized on points in the paint, taking the advantage against the Cats and finishing +12 in the win.
Trent McLaughlin still paves the way offensively for the Jacks, averaging 18.5 points a night in conference play, ranking third amongst Big Sky players. In addition to his scoring success, McLaughlin has picked up 15 steals in league contests and 3.0 rebounds per game.
Carson Basham is coming off his fourth career double-double with the Lumberjacks, his second in conference play as he tabbed 20 points and 11 rebounds, finishing 9-14 from the field in addition to three steals against the Cats last Saturday. Basham averages 14.6 points a game, 6.6 rebounds and recorded 21 blocks, ranking second in the Big Sky.
Through 11 conference contests,
Oakland Fort and
Jayden Jackson have both stepped into double-digit scoring averages as Fort is posting 10.5 a night, and Jackson with 10.0 a night.
The Hornets are currently riding an eight-game losing streak, with hopes to jump back into the win column as Sacramento State returns home following back-to-back road losses to Idaho and Weber State last week. The Hornets bench produced 40 points in the 58-53 loss to the Wildcats, while started grabbed just 13 led by Zee Hamoda with five.
Duncan Powell leads the Hornets in scoring, averaging 12.2 points per game and closely trailed by Hamoda with 12.0 a game. The Hornets average a Big Sky low 65.8 points per game, while shooting 42.7 percent from the field and 31.1 percent from three-point range. The Hornets have found success on the boards this season, third in the Big Sky with a +7.6 average margin.
The Lumberjacks lead the all-time series against the Hornets at 44-18 overall. NAU has won the last five of six against Sacramento State. The Jacks are seeking their 20
th win in Sacramento, with the last coming in 2022 where NAU grabbed a 62-61 win. In the January meeting between the two teams earlier this season, McLaughlin grabbed his career-high with 31 points while Basham tabbed a career-high 12 rebounds.
The Portland State Vikings have fell in three-straight Big Sky matchups to Eastern Washington, Weber State, and Idaho State. The Viks will host Northern Colorado on Thursday before Saturday's meeting with the Jacks. In PSU's last game against Idaho State, the Vikings gave up 14 points off turnovers before falling 68-65 to the Bengals.
KJ Allen leads PSU in scoring, averaging 11.5 points a night as the Vikings lone double-digit average scorer. Allen also leads with 6.7 rebounds a night, ranking seventh amongst Big Sky players. The Vikings have four additional players averaging eight plus points a night in Isaiah Johnson (9.7), Ismail Habib (9.6), Bobby Harvey (9.3), and Jorell Saterfield (8.2).
NAU trails PSU in the overall series 27-32, while winning one of the last five. Behind the January 19-point victory for the Lumberjacks, the last win against PSU came in the 2021 Big Sky tournament as the Jacks defeated Portland State 77-66 to advance the quarterfinals for the program's first conference tournament victory since the 2015 season. In last month's win, NAU was led by Basham with a career-high 23 points in his third double-double this season alongside 10 rebounds. Basham also grabbed a career-high and Big Sky best six blocks to lift NAU to victory.
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