FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (February 24, 2026) – With the Big Sky Conference Tournament rapidly approaching, Northern Arizona men's basketball travels to the Northwest for its final road trip of the regular season. The Lumberjacks tip-off the road trip at Idaho on Thursday at 7 p.m. MST and continue on to Eastern Washington on Saturday at 2 p.m. MST.
Both games will be streamed on
ESPN+.
Mitch Strohman will have the call on the Northern Arizona Healthcare NAU Lumberjack Radio Network. The radio pregame show begins a half hour prior to tip-off on both days.
The Lumberjacks currently sit in 10th in the Big Sky standings, but are within position to potentially move into eighth by the end of the weekend. NAU is a game behind both Sacramento State and Idaho State, who are tied in the win column ahead of the 'Jacks.
"We need to build off what we've been doing," said head coach
Shane Burcar. "The last eight games, we're 4-4. We want to continue building as we go into Boise. We've shown that we can beat anybody in the league and we could also lose to anybody in the league. We're not outmatched, but we have to be better in different areas."
Following this week's road trip, NAU (10-18, 4-11 Big Sky) concludes the regular season at home on Monday, March 2, versus Montana State prior to the conference tournament beginning on Saturday, March 7, in Boise, Idaho.
Starting with Saturday's game, the Lumberjacks will play three straight on the road before wrapping up the regular season at home on March 2 versus Montana State. NAU currently sits in ninth place in the Big Sky standings with a 4-10 conference record. The 'Jacks are one game out of eighth place in the win column heading into Thursday's action around the league.
The Lumberjacks suffered a narrow 78-77 loss to Northern Colorado – the hottest team in the Big Sky on a seven-game winning streak – last Saturday, despite
Chris Komin going for an NAU true freshman record 34 points. Following his explosive career-night, Komin is averaging 11.1 points per game in league play, which only trails
Karl Poom's 11.5 average on the team.
While NAU has seen more success of late, as indicated by its 4-4 record after opening league play with seven straight losses, the 'Jacks are only 1-3 over their last four games. During this stretch, NAU has cooled off behind the 3-point arc, shooting only 30.2%. Still, NAU leads the Big Sky and ranks 38th nationally in 3-point percentage at 37.0%.
NAU has also done a sensational job limiting its turnovers (a league-low 9.1 per game in Big Sky games) to get solid offensive looks. The Lumberjacks rank in the top 100 in the country in field goal percentage (.470) and effective field goal percentage (.538), both of which are top four in the conference.
The Lumberjacks' low turnover numbers have also helped them to the second-best assist-to-turnover ratio in Big Sky games at 1.39.
Brennan Peterson leads the Big Sky individually, in conference play, with a 3.3 assist-to-turnover ratio.
NAU will need to continue to excel in those areas, while also hope its shooting prowess from long distance returns, against a pair of teams in Idaho and Eastern Washington that rank in the top five of the Big Sky in both scoring offense and scoring defense in league play.
In doing so, the Lumberjacks will look to avoid their first season sweep to Idaho in eight years, while also clinching their second consecutive season sweep of Eastern Washington. The 'Jacks defeated Eastern Washington, 92-86, and fell to Idaho, 79-62, four weeks ago at home.
Idaho capped its road trip last week with an 86-80 victory over Sacramento State to remain in the thick of the Big Sky standings. The Vandals (15-13 overall) are 7-8 in conference. Although Idaho is currently in seventh-place, the Vandals are only two games back of second-place in a bunched pack of teams between second and seventh.
In conference play, Idaho ranks fourth in scoring offense (77.6) and fifth in scoring defense (76.3). The Vandals are top 30 in the country in both 3-pointers made (10.5) and attempted (29.0) on a per-game basis.
Isaiah Brickner dropped 31 points for Idaho against NAU last month in Flagstaff. He is the Vandals' leading scorer in conference play at 14.3 points per game and is averaging 11.7 on the season overall. Kolton Mitchell is the top 3-point shooter on the Big Sky's top 3-point shooting team with 63 makes this season at a 36.4% clip. Mitchell also leas the team with 113 assists.
If Northern Colorado is the hottest team in the Big Sky, Eastern Washington is right behind. The Eagles have vaulted up the conference standings into a tie for second behind a six-game winning streak. Eastern Washington is coming off an impressive 67-55 road win at first-place Portland State on Saturday to improve to 11-17 overall, but more importantly, 9-6 in conference action.
Eastern Washington has rode stellar play, both offensively and defensively, at the 3-point arc to Big Sky success. The Eagles rank first in the Big Sky in 3-point percentage (.390) and 3-point percentage defense (.304) in conference games, while allowing the third-fewest points per game (73.8).
Isaiah Moses is the fifth-leading scorer in conference play at 18.5 points per game. Moses, who scored 30 points against the Lumberjacks last month, leads the country in free throw percentage at 93.6%. Kiree Huie handles the paint, averaging 14.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game, while shooting 57.3% from the field in league games.
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