NAU brings the Big Sky’s No. 3 offense and No. 4 defense to Cheney on Thursday night, looking to get back into the championship bracket after an 80-69 loss to Portland State on Saturday night. The Lumberjacks are currently averaging 78.9 points per game, but are holding their opponents to 70.9 points for a conference-best margin of 8.0 points.
carson tout He enters the week as one of the top rebounders in the country, averaging 12.2 boards per game. On Saturday against the Vikings, Tout tied his career high for rebounds in a game, grabbing 19 rebounds. On Saturday, Tout became the newest member and inducted into Northern Arizona’s 1,000-point club. Trent McLaughlin as the second Lumberjack to accomplish this this season. Tout’s double-doubles for 13 seasons rank second in the nation. Tout currently ranks second on NAU’s all-time rebounding leaderboard with 886 career rebounds, chasing Dan Buttram’s record of 1,044 rebounds in 1963.
Offensively, Trent McLaughlin He leads the team in scoring with an average of 21.9 points per game, ranking third in the country in that category. McLaughlin ranks 19th in 3-pointers made with 173.th Ranked 31st in DI basketball with 3.0 three-pointers per game.cent In the country. Diego Campisano He has improved dramatically over the past two games, averaging 76.4 percent from 3-point range and scoring 37 total points. jayden jackson He finished as a double-digit scorer for NAU with 13.2 points per night.
Eastern Washington lost to Idaho State and Montana State last week, and would like to end their losing streak at two. EWU has conference wins over Montana State and most recently Sacramento State. The Eagles are led by Dan Monson, who takes over the program in his 20th year as head coach.th Head coach in program history. Before arriving at Cheney, Monson coached for 17 seasons at Long Beach State, where he won 275 games, earning him the title of winningest coach in program history.
The Eagles are led by three double-digit shooters in Andrew Cook (15.6 ppg), Nick McClain (14.0 ppg) and Mason Williams (12.9 ppg). Williams had a 21-point performance against Idaho, marking his third game of the season in which he scored 20 or more points. Cook scored 18 points against the Vandals and followed that up with 21 points against Montana State on Monday night. EWU is averaging 32.0 rebounds per game, which ranks ninth in the entire league. Emmett Marquardt leads the Eagles with 4.7 points per game, followed by McClain with 4.4 points per game.
Last season’s regular season series was split between Northern Arizona and Eastern Washington, with EWU winning 85-70 against Cheney and NAU winning 78-71 against Flagstaff. In addition to a complete reset of the coaching staff, the Eagles return six players from the 2023-24 roster and welcome a total of eight new players. If Cheney wins, it will be the 13th time.th In Jacks program history, EWU leads the series overall with a 45-39 record.
Idaho State enters the week ranked fifth in the Big Sky standings after wins over Montana State, Sacramento State and Eastern Washington. The Vandals canceled a five-point road meet with Montana State on Monday night and will now face undefeated Northern Colorado until Saturday when they play the Lumberjacks. The Vandals are led by sophomore Christian Gonzalez, who averages 11.9 points per game. Gonzalez appeared in 29 games as a freshman, scoring 4.3 points per night.
Julius Mims returned to the Vandals for his senior season and currently leads the team with 9.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Although the Vandals lost -20 to the Portland State Vikings, they were +5 in the rebounding game and +2 in rebounds. The series split last season, with NAU winning 75-60 on the road in January, followed by an 86-76 victory for the Vandals in Flagstaff. Idaho State leads the overall series 44-30, while Northern Arizona State loses to Moscow 27-13.
To stay up to date with NAU Basketball, follow Jack on X, Instagram, and Facebook.
