Men’s Basketball Hosts Idaho State in Nationally-Televised Game

NAU Game Notes vs. Idaho State (PDF)

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The Northern Arizona men’s basketball team will look to get its first Big Sky Conference win Thursday when Idaho State visits the Walkup Skydome for a key league game. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:05 p.m., 30 minutes earlier than usual to accommodate the television broadcast.

“We are sitting at the bottom and if you want to make a move you have to start winning games,” said Head Coach Mike Adras of the Big Sky standings. “It is a very important game for us. All league games are important and I don’t know how one is more important than another. We are trying to get off the deck and Thursday night is our focus.”

Idaho State enters with a 4-11 record but played a difficult non-conference slate that included road games at Iowa State, Bradley, BYU, Utah State, Notre Dale, Utah, USC and Oregon. The Bengals opened league play with a loss at Sacramento State 64-63 but split with the Montana schools last week with win over the Grizzlies on Jan. 31.

“They are very good,” said Adras. “You throw their record out because of who they played in the non-conference.”

Senior Nick Larson has averaged 15.5 points and 9.5 rebounds over the last two games. He has recorded back-to-back double digit scoring games for the first time in his career. He had a perfect night beyond the arc with 4-for-4 effort against Northern Colorado after making just 3 of previous 12 three-pointers (5 games). He finished with a career-best 20 points in the game. He also had 11 against Northern New Mexico.

Today’s game will be televised nationally on Fox College Sports Pacific, FS Arizona and Universityhouse (Dish Network 9411). It marks the first nationally-televised game this season from the Walkup Skydome.

NAU trails in the all-time series with Idaho State 40-44 but owns a 25-13 advantage in Flagstaff. The Lumberjacks have won four of the last six games in the series but lost both meetings in 2008-09.

The game can also be seen on Big Sky Television and fans can listen to the call of the game in Flagstaff on the Lumberjack Radio Network on KAFF AM 930.