FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (December 1, 2025) – Playing its last home game for two weeks, the Northern Arizona men's basketball team opens the Big Sky-Summit Challenge, and closes its four-game homestand, on Wednesday against South Dakota State in the Rolle Activity Center at 6 p.m. MST.
Mitch Strohman and
James Malamas will be on the call on
ESPN+ and the Northern Arizona Healthcare NAU Lumberjack Radio Network. The radio pregame show begins at 5:30 p.m. MST. Tickets are available at this
link.
"South Dakota State is going to be a great challenge for us," said head coach
Shane Burcar. "These are the games that you learn from and allow us to take the next step in the direction that we want to go.
No team in the Summit League has won more games (107) than South Dakota State over the last five seasons, providing NAU with a big opportunity in the first of two Big Sky-Summit Challenge games. The Big Sky-Summit Challenge is in its third season with the two conferences competing for a combined trophy, taking all 36 game results on both the men's and women's side into account. The Summit League has won the trophy the last two seasons.
NAU has split its four Big Sky-Summit Challenge games the last two seasons, winning both games at home against North Dakota and South Dakota and losing to Omaha and Oral Roberts on the road. Following Wednesday's game, NAU travels to North Dakota State for the back-half of this year's Challenge.
The Lumberjacks (4-2) have won three straight games heading into the month of December, including a pair of wins during their home Multi-Team Event last week against Cal Poly, 93-87, and Southeast Missouri, 79-72. Having won 11 straight games overall in Rolle, NAU is seeking its first four-game winning streak in two years.
Ryan Abelman recorded his first two career 20-point games in last week's victories. He shot a combined 48.4% from the field and 47.1% from long distance in the two games. Through six games, Abelman has stuffed the stat sheet, ranking second on the team with 12.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game along with the second-most assists (14) and team-leading 12 steals. Abelman has already set single-game career highs in points, rebounds, assists and steals this season.
Zack Davidson returned to the NAU lineup last week after missing a game with an injury and averaged 14.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in the two games. For the season, Davidson continues to lead the team in scoring (16.8) and rebounds (7.0), while ranking fifth in the Big Sky in both categories. He is shooting 62.1% from the field, which is good for 36th in the country.
Kavon Bradford also had a strong week, totaling 12 points in both games. In addition to his first two double-digit scoring games as a Lumberjack, Bradford also extended a recent stretch of impressive play at the point guard position. In his last three games, Bradford has recorded 14 assists and only four turnovers, resulting in a 3.5 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Playing its last home game until Dec. 18, NAU faces South Dakota State for the first time in program history.
South Dakota State (4-4) heads to Flagstaff looking to get back in the win column after suffering a pair of losses to Utah Valley, 75-52, and UC Irvine, 64-52, at the Cancun Challenge prior to Thanksgiving.
The Jackrabbits' calling card so far this season has been on the defensive end. South Dakota State ranks 34th in the country in scoring defense (64.9) and 77th in field goal defense (.404), both of which lead the Summit League. Additionally, teams are only shooting 30.9% from 3-point range against the Jackrabbits.
Jaden Jackson is one of three players averaging double-figure points, leading the team with 12.1 points per game. Jackson also leads the team with 12 steals and tied for the lead with 18 assists. Damon Wilkinson is averaging 10.5 points and a team-high 6.0 rebounds per game in less than 20 minutes per contest.
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