FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (February 5, 2025) – NAU Basketball (13-10, 4-6) will return to Findlay Toyota Court for the first time in 19 days on Thursday night, set to host the Montana State Bobcats (10-13, 5-5) at 6 p.m. MST before a Saturday night meeting with the Montana Griz (15-8, 8-2), also set to tip off at 6 p.m. MST. Live stats for both games can be found
here, while the games can be streamed on
ESPN+.
The Lumberjacks took 2-2 record while on their longest road stretch of the season, picking up wins at Eastern Washington and Idaho before dropping to Northern Colorado and Weber State last week. NAU's scoring offense ranks third in the Big Sky, averaging 77.9 points a contest while shooting 45.6 percent from the field. NAU's shooting percentage saw a slight dip in the last three contests, going 40.1 percent from the field while allowing opponents 48.8 percent field goal shooting. A high-point for the Jacks was
Trent McLaughlin and
Diego Campisano's performances from three-point range, each hitting 10 three-pointers in the last three contests, as Campisano shot 45.5 percent from beyond the arc. McLaughlin is coming off his career-high, scoring 35 points on a career-high of seven-made three-pointers.
NAU leads the league in combined team rebounds, averaging 40.1 a night to rank 24
th in DI Basketball. Much of the Jacks success on the glass can be accredited to
Carson Towt, who leads the country with 294 total rebounds on the season, averaging 12.8. Towt is currently chasing NAU's rebounds record, set in 1963 by Dan Buttrum at 1,044, as he is just 51 rebounds shy of 1,000, which would make him just the second player to ever reach the milestone at NAU. Towt became the 34
th member of the 1,000-point club against the PSU Vikings earlier this season, following McLaughlin's suit as he hit the milestone in NAU's Dec. 21 victory over Southern Utah.
Making his way to the starting lineup in the last four matchups, Campisano is currently leading the Big Sky in conference play in three-point field goals with 23 total.
Jayden Jackson's assist/turnover ratio of 2.8 ranks third through conference games while he has a team-high of 13 recorded in NAU's last three.
NAU will be looking for the season series split as the Jacks fell to the Bobcats in Bozeman in January, 58-53. The last time the Cats made the trip to Flagstaff, Northern Arizona pulled off a 76-71 victory led by a 24-point performance from McLaughlin that was highlighted by four three-pointers. The Bobcats lead the overall series at 62-51 with Northern Arizona holding the home advantage, leading 36-20 in Flagstaff.
Coming off a disappointing loss to Idaho State in Pocatello on January 16 that dropped MSU to 1-4 in Big Sky play, head coach Matt Logie made the decision to shake up the lineup ahead of their road game at Weber State on January 18, moving Jabe Mullins and Patrick McMahon to prominent bench roles and putting Bryce Zephir and Sam Lecholat in the starting five. Since then, all the Cats have won four of their last five games to move within a half game of third place in the Big Sky.
Brandon Walker continues to lead the MSU squad, averaging 14.7 points per game in addition to 4.8 rebounds. Walker is shooting 53.1 percent from the field and is ranked as the Big Sky's current most valuable player in KenPom.com's all-conference analytics. Max Agbonkpolo sits alongside Walker with 4.8 rebounds per game, marking the Bobcats second double-digit scorer with 11.3 points per game. Tyler Patterson is currently shooting 42.4 percent from beyond the arc, hitting a team-high 42 triples.
Following a trip to league-leading Northern Colorado, the second-place Montana Griz will head to Flagstaff for the Jacks second 6 p.m. Saturday matchup of the season in Flagstaff. Montana is currently riding a four-game win streak, 2.5 games ahead of third-place Portland State after dropping the Vikings 92-78 on Thursday night, following with an 87-59 victory over Sacramento State on Saturday.
While the team is shooting 48.6 percent from the field, Malik Moore leads individual scorers with 13.4 points per game, closely followed by Money Williams with 12.5 points a night. Joe Pridgen averaged 12.1 points per game for the Griz, while leading on the glass with 7.4 boards per game.
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