FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (January 22, 2025) – Northern Arizona Men's Basketball (11-8, 2-4 Big Sky) is heading on the road in what will be a four-game road stretch for the Lumberjacks as they are set to take on the Eastern Washington Eagles (6-13, 2-4 Big Sky) on Thursday night at 7 p.m. MST, followed by a Saturday afternoon matchup with the Idaho Vandals (8-11, 3-3 Big Sky) at 2 p.m. MST.
NAU will take the Big Sky's third-ranked offense and fourth-ranked defense into Cheney on Thursday night, with sights set on jumping back into the win column following a tough 80-69 loss to Portland State on Saturday night. The Lumberjacks currently average 78.9 points per game, while holding opponents to 70.9 ppg for a conference-high margin of 8.0.
Carson Towt enters the week at the nation's leading rebounder, averaging 12.2 boards a game. Towt matched his career high in single-game rebounds against the Vikings on Saturday, grabbing 19. Towt became the newest member of Northern Arizona's 1,000-point club on Saturday, joining
Trent McLaughlin as the second Lumberjack to do so this season. Towt's 13 season double-doubles ranks second in the country. Towt is currently second in NAU's all-time rebounding leaderboard, with 886 career rebounds, chasing the 1,044-record set by Dan Buttrum in 1963.
Offensively,
Trent McLaughlin leads the squad while averaging 21.9 points per game, ranking third in the nation in the category. McLaughlin's 173 made three-pointers ranks 19
th in DI Basketball while 3.0 three-pointers per game ranks 31
st in the country.
Diego Campisano has stepped up tremendously in the last two matchups, averaging 76.4 percent from the floor on nine three-pointers and 37 total points.
Jayden Jackson rounds out NAU's double-digit scorers with 13.2 points a night.
Eastern Washington will be looking to snap a two-game losing streak, after falling to Idaho and Montana State in last week's slate. EWU has picked up conference victories over Montana State and most recently Sacramento State. The Eagles are led by first-year head coach Dan Monson who took over the program as the 20
th head coach in program history. Monson coaches 17 seasons at Long Beach State prior to arriving in Cheney, where he earned the title all-time winningest coach for the program with 275 victories.
The Eagles are led by three double-digit shooters in Andrew Cook (15.6), Nic McClain (14.0), and Mason Williams (12.9). Williams is coming off a 21-point performance against Idaho, his third 20+ point scoring game this season. Cook posted 18 points against the Vandals followed by 21 against Montana State on Monday night. On the glass, EWU averages 32.0 rebounds per game, ranking ninth overall in the league. Emmett Marquardt leads the Eagles on the boards, averaging 4.7 a game while McClain follows closely with 4.4.
Northern Arizona and Eastern Washington split the regular-season series last season, with EWU grabbing an 85-70 win in Cheney and NAU earning the 78-71 victory in Flagstaff. Along with a full coaching staff reset, the Eagles returned six players from the 2023-24 roster while bringing in eight newcomers total. A win in Cheney would mark the 13
th in program history for the Jacks, while EWU leads the overall series at 45-39.
Idaho will head into the week ranked fifth in the Big Sky standings, after picking up wins against Montana State, Sacramento State, Eastern Washington. The Vandals dropped a five-point road meeting to Montana on Monday evening, while now facing the task of undefeated Northern Colorado before hosting the Lumberjacks on Saturday. The Vandals are led by Sophomore Kristian Gonzalez averaging 11.9 points a contest. Gonzalez appeared in 29 games as a freshman while grabbing 4.3 points a night.
Julius Mims returns to the Vandal squad for his senior season, currently leading the team on the glass with 6.1 rebounds a game in addition to 9.2 points. The Vandals are coming off +5 and +2 rebound games after falling -20 on the glass to the Portland State Vikings. The series was split last season with NAU picking up a 75-60 road victory in January, followed by the Vandals grabbing an 86-76 win in Flagstaff. Idaho leads the overall series at 44-30, with Northern Arizona trailing 27-13 in Moscow.
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