GREELEY, Colo. (February 1, 2025) – Northern Arizona Basketball (13-9, 4-5) dropped Saturday afternoon's matchup with the Northern Colorado Bears (16-6, 8-1).
"My biggest thought is that we were chasing the whole night, our defensive effort wasn't executed as it needed to be," head coach
Shane Burcar said. "We're going to take a look in the mirror and execute better."
Northern Colorado took an 11-0 start in the first three and a half minutes of play before
Carson Towt was able grab a tip-in layup to put NAU on the board. The Bears held the 13-4 lead by the first media timeout, as Towt had already tabbed four offensive rebounds for the Jacks, struggling to find their shots early on.
Not hitting the panic button, NAU cut the Bears lead to 13-8 as Towt accounted for six of NAU's first eight points. While Northern Colorado started 7-for-11 from the field, NAU shot 5-for-17 from the field in the first nine minutes on the floor. With just under nine minutes remaining in the first half, the Bears found their largest lead at 13, leading NAU 26-13.
Jayden Jackson sunk NAU's first three-pointer of the game after the team started 0-5, finding the shot with 3:33 on the clock.
Northern Colorado extended the lead to 21, sending the Jacks into the locker room with a 46-25 advantage through 20 minutes on the floor. Jackson and Towt led NAU with eight points each as Towt grabbed 10 rebounds. The Jacks shot 31.3 percent, hitting 10-of-32 while the Bears hit 17 field goals on 28 attempts, shooting 60.7 percent through the first frame. NAU led the rebound game 20-17.
Trent McLaughlin quickly ended his scoring drought and put the Jacks on the board coming out of halftime with a first-possession jumper. The Bears continued hot shooting, starting the second half 5-for-11 from the field, while NAU started 3-for-11. With just under ten to play, the Jacks sparked an 8-0 run while holding the Bears scoreless for three minutes on the floor as McLaughlin became the Jacks third double-digit scorer alongside Towt and Jackson.
With seven minutes to play, a layup from McLaughlin would continue a scoreless two-minute span for the Bears as NAU hit a 9-0 run to cut Northern Colorado's once 25-point lead, to just 15. NAU's comeback efforts would need more time, as the Bears closed out the 87-69 final.
Towt finished with his 15
th double-double of the season, recording 16 points alongside a career-high-matching 19 rebounds. McLaughlin and Campisano also finished with 16 apiece, while McLaughlin had seven rebounds and Campisano picked up five. Jackson finished with 12, shooting 50.0 percent from the field in addition to two blocks, while
Monty Bowser picked up eight points on 50.0 percent shooting as well.
As a team, Northern Arizona finished 40.3 percent from the field, in comparison to Northern Colorado's 51.8 percent shooting. The Jacks led rebounding 42-31, as well as points in the paint, finishing +16.
Northern Arizona has a quick turnaround with a Monday meeting in Ogden as the Jacks will take on the Weber State Wildcats to wrap up the four-game road stretch. To stay up to date with NAU Basketball, follow the Jacks on X, Instagram, and Facebook.
