BOISE, Idaho (March 6, 2025) – The Northern Arizona Men's Basketball (17-14, 8-10) program is preparing for the seventh Big Sky Basketball Tournament in Boise, Idaho, as the Jacks will take on Eastern Washington (10-21, 6-12) at 8 p.m. MST on Saturday night at Idaho Central Arena.
Fans can find live stats
here during the game, and stream on
ESPN+. All Big Sky Tournament information, including ticket purchase options, can be found
here.
Northern Arizona and Eastern Washington will have just two weeks in between appearances facing off against one another, as the Jacks pulled off the regular season sweep of the Eagles on Feb. 22 with an 87-67 victory over EWU in Flagstaff. NAU's season sweep includes a January meeting in Cheney where the Jacks took a 70-61 edge. NAU is on a three-game win streak over Eastern Washington, dating back to Feb. 22 of 2024. Eastern Washington's last victory over the Jacks was tabbed on Jan. 27, 2024. This will be the first meeting back up in the tournament since the NAU upset in 2023, where the No. 9 seeded Northern Arizona knocked the No. 1 seeded Eastern Washington out with an 81-80 victory as
Oakland Fort sunk the infamous three-pointer for the Lumberjacks.
Northern Arizona's 17 wins this season marks the most under head coach
Shane Burcar, and the best regular season finish since 2015, where NAU went into the postseason with an 18-13 overall record before making a run in the CIT.
Burcar is heading into the tournament as a finalist for the collegeinsider.com 2024-25 Skip Prosser Man of the Year award, as the organization announced on Thursday morning. The Skip Prosser Man of the Year award honors those who not only achieve success on the basketball court but who display moral integrity on and off it as well. The recipient of the annual award is determined by a 10-member voting committee, which consists of current and former head coaches, as well as two senior staff members of collegeinsider.com. The 2025 award will be announced in San Antonio, TX, site of the men's Division I Basketball Championship.
The Jacks are currently second in scoring offense in the conference, averaging 76.5 points per game while fifth in scoring defense at 71.7. The Jacks rank second in the league in combined team rebounds per game with 38.0, sitting behind Idaho State's 38.2. The Jacks averaged 28.7 boards per game in the last three contests, while outrebounding Big Sky opponents in 12 out of 18 contests this season. Second in assists, the Jacks post 15.1 per game on average while leading the conference in assist/turnover ratio with 1.51, averaging 10.1 turnovers per game.
Carson Towt is coming off a big final week of the regular season, recording four steals, a game-high 14 rebounds, and nine points in Saturday's loss to Northern Colorado while following up with a career performance against Idaho State to close out the regular season with a victory on Monday. Towt matched NAU's single-game field goal percentage record of 100.0 percent from the field on 11 attempts while recording a career-high 24 points in addition to his 19th double-double of the season with 12 rebounds. Towt leads the nation at 1245 rebounds per game while just five shy of breaking Northern Arizona's all-time record, currently set at 1,044 by Dan Buttrum in 1962. Towt's 19 double doubles ranks 3
rd in the nation while his field goal percentage of 57.5 percent ranks 28
th in the country.
Trent McLaughlin's 22.2 points per game rank second in DI Basketball, while he hits 10 three-pointers in the Jacks last three games, shooting 55.6 percent from beyond the arc, cashing in on 79 points in that span. McLaughlin's 2.97 three-pointers per game ranks 37
th in the country. McLaughlin has added 110 rebounds, 108 assists, and 55 steals to his resume this season, leading the Big Sky with 686 total points, just one of two players in the league to record 600+ points this season.
Jayden Jackson is averaging 14.0 points a contest through the Jacks last three meetings, shooting 55.6 percent from the field on 27 attempts. Jackson leads the team in assists, averaging 3.6 a night.
Ryan Abelman has stepped up for NAU, getting the start in the Jacks last three meetings of the regular season, while posting seven triples, shooting 58.3 percent from beyond the arc, averaging 30.7 minutes.
Eastern Washington is heading into the tournament facing a five-game losing streak while dropping to Northern Colorado, NAU, Weber State, Idaho State, and Montana to close out the regular season. The Eagles have shot 45.9 percent from the field through the season, and 29.1 percent from beyond the arc in their last three contests, hitting 16 triples on 55 attempts. Three double-digit shooters lead the Eags with Andrew Cook paving the way at 16.0 a night, followed by 13.6 from Mason Williams, and 10.8 from Nic McClain. McClain leads the team with 3.9 assists and 1.9 steals per game as well. Emmett Marquardt leads the boards, recording 4.4 rebounds a game trailed closely by 4.2 a contest from Sebastian Hartmann.
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