FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (January 13, 2026) – Northern Arizona men's basketball hits the road for the last time in January with a two-game swing through Sacramento State on Thursday at 8 p.m. MST and Portland State on Saturday at 3 p.m. MST.
The Northern Arizona Healthcare NAU Lumberjack Radio Network pregame show with
Mitch Strohman goes live a half hour prior to tip-off. Both games will be streamed on
ESPN+.
NAU begins its week on the road with its first trip to Sacramento State's new Hornet Pavilion in a matchup between the two remaining teams in search of their first Big Sky victory. The road trip concludes at Viking Pavilion in Portland on Saturday against Portand State, the only remaining unbeaten team in league play.
NAU fell to 0-4 in league play for the first time in eight years with home losses to Weber State and Idaho State last Saturday. The Lumberjacks are 6-11 overall and remain in the hunt for their first victory away from Flagstaff this season.
In the absence of leading scorer Zach Davidson, who missed both games last week with an injury,
Traivar Jackson and
Karl Poom stepped up to fill the void in the paint. In the loss to Weber State last Thursday, Jackson matched a career-high with 16 points, while narrowly missing a double-double with nine boards. He followed that up with a 10-point performance against Idaho State. Poom shouldered the load versus the Bengals, scoring a career-high 22 points in his first career 20-point game.
Isaiah Shaw and Jackson are averaging a team-high 10.8 points per game in conference play. Jackson is the Lumberjacks' leader in rebounding at 7.8 per game through four Big Sky games. In particular, Jackson has been active on the offensive glass, averaging 2.8 offensive rebounds per game.
Meanwhile,
Chris Komin and
Brennan Peterson have seen an uptick in minutes in conference play with both true freshmen averaging more than 24 minutes per contest. Together, they have combined for 28 assists and only seven turnovers over the last four games, while providing scoring as well. Komin is averaging 9.3 points per game on 48.0% shooting from the field, while Peterson is shooting 43.8% from behind the arc with seven 3-point makes.
Sacramento State has lost seven straight games and is 4-11 overall. The Hornets dropped to 0-3 in conference play in their lone game last week, falling to Portland State, 96-69. The Hornets will be playing their first home game since Nov. 25. All seven losses during their current skid have come on the road.
Sacramento State is averaging 76.9 points per game and allows 82.8. The Hornets are one of the nation's best teams at the charity stripe. They rank 47th in free throws made (18.4) and 58th in free throws attempted (24.3) on a per game basis.
Mikey Williams leads the team in scoring (17.8) and assists (70). He ranks second in the Big Sky in both free throws made (80) and attempted (102). Prophet Johnson is averaging 14.9 points per game and is 33rd nationally with a Big Sky leading six double-doubles. Johnson is averaging 8.4 rebounds per game, while ranking 13th in the country with 2.6 steals per game.
Portland State is the only remaining Big Sky team with an unblemished conference record at 3-0 after defeating Sacramento State last week. The Vikings, picked second in the Big Sky Preseason Polls, are 9-6 overall, including a 5-1 record at home.
The Vikings lead the Big Sky in scoring margin (10.4) while ranking in the top three of the conference in both scoring offense (83.3) and scoring defense (72.9). Portland State has eclipsed 90 points in all three conference games. In addition to scoring margin, the Vikings are also first in the league in turnovers forced per game (13.1), rebounding margin (6.1), assists per game (17.4), blocks per game (4.6) and field goal defense (.408).
The preseason all-conference trio of Jaylin Henderson, Terri Miller Jr. and Tre-Vaughn Minott lead the Vikings. Henderson and Miller are second and third respectively in the Big Sky in scoring at 19.0 and 18.9 points per game, while Minott leads the conference with 9.2 rebounds on average. Henderson also ranks second in the Big Sky, and top 100 nationally, with 6.1 assists and 1.9 steals per game.
NAU leads the all-time series against Sacramento State, 47-18, and have won five consecutive meetings. Meanwhile, Portland State owns the all-time series 35-27 and have won seven of the last eight head-to-head meetings. The Vikings have won eight straight at home dating back to the 2014-15 season.
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