TUCSON, Ariz. (November 10, 2026) – The Northern Arizona men's basketball team settled into an offensive groove in the second half Tuesday night at No. 12/11 Arizona, shooting 48.0% from the field in the final 20 minutes. However, the Lumberjacks struggled to contain the Wildcats on the defensive end as Arizona shot 61.7% for the night in a 90-59 victory at the McKale Center at ALKEME Arena.
 
NAU (0-3) was only narrowly outscored, 44-37, after halftime, but a 24-point first half deficit was too much to overcome. The 37 points scored by the Lumberjacks in the second half was the most by an NAU team against Arizona since 2009 when the 'Jacks closed with a 39-point second half.
 
As well as NAU shot in the second half, Arizona (2-1) was better with the Wildcats shooting 58.8% from the field after halftime. Their shooting percentage was down from the 65.4% clip they posted in the first half in building a 46-22 lead at the break.
 
For the third straight game, Chris Komin led the Lumberjacks in scoring with 17 points, 13 of which came in the second half. Komin also accounted for five of NAU's nine assists. Ryan Abelman was effective from long range, shooting 4-of-8 behind the arc on his way to a season-high 14 points. Besides Abelman though, the rest of the team combined to shoot only 5-of-18 from 3-point range.
 
Lucas Toukam paced NAU with seven rebounds to go with six points and two blocks. Zach Tanner came off the bench and knocked down a pair of treys to net six points in his first extended action as a Lumberjack.
 
Dylan Anderson, a former Wildcat, opened the game with a layup off a dish from Komin to give NAU its only lead of the night. Arizona responded with the next seven points and opened up a 14-point lead at 23-9 with 11 minutes before halftime. Komin followed with a layup through the Wildcat defense and Tanner hit a 3-pointer to bring NAU within 23-14 with 9:31 left in the first half, but the Wildcats broke the game open with a corresponding 14-3 run.
 
NAU had its best scoring surge early in the second half as Komin scored all eight points during an 8-0 run that cut Arizona's lead to 57-40 with 14:58 to play. The Wildcat lead eventually grew to 75-43 behind an 18-3 run over the next six minutes and Arizona led by as much as 34 in the second half.
 
One area where the Lumberjacks did an exceptional job on Tuesday was limiting their fouls. Arizona entered the night ranked ninth in the country with 26.0 made free throws per game, but the Wildcats were held to only 8-of-12 at the charity stripe.
 
The Lumberjacks conclude their string of four road games to start the season on Friday at No. 24 Kentucky. Tip-off in Lexington, Ky. is 5 p.m. MST.
 
Stay up to date with Northern Arizona men's basketball by following the Lumberjacks on X and Instagram.