FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (November 12, 2026) – Before Northern Arizona men's basketball opens up its home schedule next week, the Lumberjacks conclude their stretch of four consecutive road games at No. 24/RV Kentucky on Friday at 5 p.m. MST.
Anthony DeFazio will have the call on the Northern Arizona Healthcare NAU Lumberjack Radio Network from Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center starting with the pregame show at 4:30 p.m. MST. Fans can tune into the game
online or watch the stream live on SEC Network+ or ESPN+.
The Lumberjacks sit at 0-3, but they have faced a gauntlet of teams through the first week and a half of the season with Friday in Lexington, Ky. being no different. By the time NAU returns home for next Tuesday's home opener at Findlay Toyota Court inside the Rolle Activity Center against Embry-Riddle, NAU will have faced two preseason conference favorites (New Mexico, Arizona), two nationally-ranked opponents (Arizona, Kentucky) and four teams, including UNLV, who appeared in postseason tournaments a season ago.
Still, NAU has shown some bright signs in the early going of the 2026-27 season starting with
Chris Komin. The second-year guard continued his sizzling start to the season by scoring 17 points in a 90-59 loss to No. 12/11 Arizona on Tuesday. Komin heads to Kentucky with a Big Sky leading 20.7 points per game and has paced the team in scoring in each of the first three games. While shooting 51.2% from the field, Komin has more than doubled his scoring average as a true freshman a year ago and also ranks fifth in the conference with 4.3 assists per game.
Ryan Abelman gives the Lumberjacks a 1-2 punch, averaging 12.7 points per game. Abelman leads the Big Sky with 10 3-pointers made and is shooting 40.0% from behind the arc. The veteran scored 14 points in the loss to the Wildcats on Tuesday, shooting 4-for-8 from long range in addition to grabbing five rebounds.
Playing on the biggest stage of his young career, true freshman
Lucas Toukam tied for game-high honors with seven rebounds and also totaled six points and two blocks versus Arizona.
Zach Tanner, coming off the bench to play 10 minutes, shot 2-for-4 from 3-point range.
Tamiel Green had the team's only positive plus-minus of +5 in 10 minutes off the bench as well.
The trip to Lexington is a rare one for the Lumberjacks for a many reasons as NAU and Kentucky will meet for the first time in program history. It will be NAU's first game at an SEC opponent since a loss to Ole Miss in 2014 and just the sixth all-time game for NAU against the SEC. The Lumberjacks are 0-5 all-time versus SEC opponents, not including losses to current members Missouri and Texas, who were not part of the conference when NAU faced either.
Additionally, it will be only NAU's second all-time game in the state of Kentucky. The Lumberjacks previously lost to Western Kentucky in 2007 in an ESPN BracketBuster game.
Kentucky (2-1) is No. 24 in the AP Top 25 and is the first team outside the top 25 in the Coaches Poll. The Wildcats suffered their first loss of the season to No. 15/14 Kansas on Tuesday, 89-69, in the State Farm Champions Classic in Chicago, Ill. Kentucky reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament last year in its nation-leading 63rd NCAA Tournament appearance and posted a 22-14 overall record.
Milan Momcilovic and Zoom Diallo led the country's No. 4 transfer class and are the team's top two scoers. Diallo, coming off a 24-point game against Kansas, is averaging a team-high 17.3 points per game, while Momcilovic is averaging 12.0 points. Returner Malachi Moreno averages 11.7 points and a team-best 9.0 rebounds per game. He is 24th in the country with 4.0 rebounds per game on the offensive glass.
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