NAU releases 2013-14 men's basketball schedule

By foxsports
Published

Northern Arizona released its men's basketball regular-season schedule on Friday, with game times to be announced at a later date.

NAU will play 13 home contests at the Walkup Skydome, including a trio of nonconference games, highlighted by a visit from Hawaii. Road games at Arizona, USC and Texas Tech highlight the road portion of the schedule.

The Lumberjacks will play their first four games of the season on the road. First up is a trip to the Lone Star State, where NAU will play UTSA (Nov. 9), followed by a game at Texas Tech (Nov. 11). NAU will then head to California for games at Pac-12 opponent USC (Nov. 15) and West Coast Conference foe Loyola Marymount (Nov. 17).

NAU will host San Diego Christian in its first home game of the season on Saturday, Nov. 23.

“We feel that this is a fantastic schedule that allows us to be
challenged both on the road and at home, which will ultimately allow us
to be prepared for conference play when it begins in January,” NAU coach
Jack Murphy said in a statement. “We will play competitive programs
across a number of conferences as we continue to represent the hard work
and toughness that has come to define Lumberjack basketball.”


Following the home opener, NAU heads to Fresno State for a three-game tournament Thanksgiving weekend. The Lumberjacks will face Cal State Bakersfield (Nov. 29), Drake (Nov. 30), and Fresno State (Dec. 1).

The University of Hawaii will play at NAU on Dec. 7, followed by a contest against Grand Canyon on Dec. 14. The Lumberjacks will play their final game of 2013 at Arizona on Dec. 23.

The New Year will mark the start of Big Sky play. Road games for NAU include the conference opener at Montana (Jan. 2) as well as Montana State (Jan. 4), Southern Utah (Jan. 13), Northern Colorado (Jan. 23), North Dakota (Jan. 25), Sacramento State (Feb. 6), Portland State (Feb. 13), Eastern Washington (Feb. 15), Idaho State (Feb. 27), and Weber State (March 1).

NAU will host Sacramento State (Jan. 9) in its first home game of 2014. Also visiting the Walkup Skydome will be Eastern Washington (Jan. 16), Portland State (Jan. 18), Weber State (Jan. 30), Idaho State (Feb. 1), Southern Utah (Feb. 8), Northern Colorado (Feb. 20), North Dakota (Feb. 22), Montana State (March 6), and Montana (March 8).  

The Big Sky tournament will be held March 13-15, hosted by the regular-season champion.