CEDAR CITY, Utah – The Thunderbirds looked rusty Saturday night at home against Northern Arizona. SUU (5-14), coming off a week break, suffered a blowout loss to the Lumberjacks (10-11), 60-81.
SUU was unable to stop the hot NAU shooting and could not find the basket on the offensive end, where they were held to just 39.2 percent shooting. The Lumberjacks had a very good start to the game and was able to maintain its lead throughout the second half.
Freshman guard, Kyler Neilson said finishing on the offensive end would have been a big boost for the team. “We've been working on finishing plays through contact and I think we could've done that just a little bit better tonight.”
The SUU defense that was so good a week earlier at Montana was shaky to start. The Lumberjacks got in the paint at will and converted six of its first seven shots. SUU's offense started cold, as the Thunderbirds were 1-6 in the first four and a half minutes of the game. Head coach Nick Robinson went to his bench early and freshman forward, Tyler Rawson helped spark the SUU offense with four quick points, cutting the NAU lead to five.
The SUU defense continued to struggle against NAU, as the deficit was stretched to 14 by the Lumberjacks mid-way through the first half. At the seven minute mark the score showed the Thunderbirds trailing, 13-31. Northern Arizona ended the half on an 18-7 run and as the Thunderbirds could not find an answer for NAU's hot shooting.
SUU's ball control was spectacular in the first half, where they committed just one turnover in the first 20 minutes of play. However, that was one of the few positives for the Thunderbirds in the first half. Rawson led all Thunderbird scorers with eight points and senior center, Cal Hanks added nine points for SUU who entered the half trailing 20-47. The Thunderbirds were not able to find their touch in the first half, as they shot just 27.3 percent from the field, 0-6 from the 3-point line.
Northern Arizona guards, Quinton Upshur and Aaseem Dixon led the charge for the Lumberjacks. Upshur and Dixon shot a combined 9-14, for 23 first half points and NAU dominated the rebound category, 21-9.
SUU quickly cut the 29-point Lumberjacks' lead to 23 just two minutes in to the second half. However, a corner three by Upshur ended the 6-0 run by the Thunderbirds and stopped the momentum swing that favored SUU. The Thunderbirds began to move the ball extremely well in the second half, but the shots would not fall.
The Thunderbirds were able to get into the penalty with 12 minutes left in the game, but shot just 3-17 from the line. At the 6:30 mark of the second half, NAU led the Thunderbirds, 68-40 and was in full control. The Lumberjacks continued to lean on Dixon as the game continued late into the second half.
Upshur and Dixon finished with a combined 38 points while Kris Yanku contributed ten points and seven rebounds. Rawson, and Sherron Wilson led the Thunderbirds with nine points each, however, Neilson contributed seven points in just six minutes of play. Coach Robinson praised Neilson saying, “Kyler Neilson played extremely well. He ran the system exactly how we want it to be run and I thought he was a big time pride spot for us today.”
The Thunderbirds return home next week for games Thursday and Saturday against North Dakota and Northern Colorado, respectively. Tip is set for 7:00 pm for both games.
