FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (November 8, 2026) – Northern Arizona men's basketball travels south to Tucson in its third straight road game to begin the season, facing Arizona at 7 p.m. MST at McKale Center at ALKEME Arena on Tuesday.
NAU and Arizona will meet for the 130th time in the programs' history. The Wildcats defeated the Lumberjacks, 84-49, last season, posting their 35th consecutive win since NAU's last victory in the series in 1968. Arizona leads the all-time series lead, 104-25.
Tuesday's game will be streamed live on
ESPN+ and the radio broadcast will be available on the Northern Arizona Healthcare NAU Lumberjack Radio Network.
James Malamas will be on the call beginning with the pregame show at 6:30 p.m. MST.
The Lumberjacks are in search of their first win of the season, sitting at 0-2 following a 94-65 loss to New Mexico Saturday night in Albuquerque.
Chris Komin recorded his second consecutive 20-point game, pacing NAU with 21 points, six rebounds and six assists against the Lobos.
Komin has been the standout through two games, averaging 22.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game, while shooting 55.7% from the field and 46.2% from long distance. Komin, only the third Lumberjack with consecutive 20-point outings to start a season since 1993, ranks 44th in the country in scoring and first in the Big Sky.
He has been joined in double-figure scoring in each of the first two games by
Ryan Abelman and
Lucas Toukam, who are averaging 12.0 and 11.5 points per game respectively. Abelman has connected on a trio of 3-pointers in both games and is shooting 35.3% from behind the arc. Toukam is shooting 52.9% from the field and leads the team with 6.0 rebounds per game.
NAU's trip to Tucson will mark a return for
Dylan Anderson, who started his collegiate career at Arizona. Anderson, a former top 100 prospect out of Perry High School, spent two seasons with the Wildcats before stops at Boise State and Murray State prior to landing in Flagstaff. Anderson made his first start as a Lumberjack versus New Mexico and posted eight points, four rebounds and an assists in 26 minutes.
For the Lumberjacks to have success against the Wildcats, they will need to curb their turnovers. NAU is averaging 17.0 turnovers per game that has led to 21.5 points on average for opponents. On the flip side, the 'Jacks have only forced 12 turnovers total in their two games against UNLV and New Mexico and scored 12 points off those extra opportunities.
Arizona is the second straight preseason conference favorite that NAU will face as the Wildcats were predicted to win the Big 12 by the league's coaches and media prior to the season. Arizona posted a 36-3 record in 2025-26 and reached the Final Four.
Arizona, ranked No. 5 in the preseason AP Poll and No. 4 in the Coaches Poll, split the first week of the season and head into Tuesday's game versus NAU with a 1-1 record. The Wildcats fell to No. 22 UCLA on a neutral court in Las Vegas, Nev. by an 84-75 margin to open the season, but bounced back to defeat Cal Poly, 104-84, last Thursday in their home opener.
The Wildcats boast a formidable duo in Motiejus Krivas and Ivan Kharchenkov. Krivas was named Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year and a preseason All-American and is averaging 19.0 points and 8.5 rebounds through two games while ranking eighth in the NCAA with eight blocks. Kharchenkov ranks seventh nationally with 27.0 points per game. Kharchenkov, a preseason all-conference pick, has tallied double-doubles in both of the first two games and is averaging 10.0 boards per game.
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