MOSCOW, Idaho - Last Saturday was a tough pill to swallow for Idaho Basketball.
Typically you have a short turnaround to move past your first game of the week, but since the Vandals only had one to play, the comeback from Eastern Washington stung even worse.
But that's behind them and it's time to move on to the next. Idaho is hitting the road for two of the final three road contests of the regular season, first flying to Flagstaff, AZ for a road rematch with the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks.
LAST TIME OUT
In their last matchup in Moscow earlier this season, Northern Arizona engineered a second-half comeback, climbing from a halftime deficit of 41-37 and riding hot shooting from Trent McLaughlin to pull out the win, 80-72.
Recently, the 'Jacks have been up and down in conference play, but have hung tough with some of the best teams in the Big Sky. NAU had dropped three straight going into Saturday, first falling 83-80 against first-place Montana followed by a defensive slugfest against Portland State that went the way of the Vikings, 58-46, However, they got back into the win column on the road against Sacramento State, 65-61.
Idaho is coming off of a loss, 73-75 in their lone game last week against Eastern Washington, where the Vandals started strong offensively but cooled off just enough to allow the Eagles to complete a narrow comeback win in the last seven seconds of the game.
SCOUTING THE 'JACKS
Northern Arizona keeps themselves in games through a commanding control of the glass. Carson Towt ranks among the nation's best in rebounding 12.7 grabs per game, nearly three full boards over second place in the Big Sky
Trent McLaughlin has established himself as the best scorer in the league by far, averaging 21.2 PPG after 27 contests along with 75 made threes for an average of 2.8 per game, both Big Sky leads as well.
SERIES HISTORY VS. NORTHERN ARIZONA
The last matchup with the 'Jacks in January marked the 21st between the two schools. NAU leads the all-time series 13-8, including the last contest in Moscow, 80-72. Before this, Idaho had won the last contest in Flagstaff, 86-76, and the Jacks had collected the three before, dating back to February 2023.
