It will be a battle between Big Sky opponents when the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (3-17) welcome the Eastern Washington Eagles (11-10) to Walkup Skydome. The game starts at 8:35 pm ET on Thursday, Feb. 4.
The Lumberjacks lost big to Idaho State 88-66 in their last game. Kris Yanku was the best player for the Lumberjacks, finishing with 16 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds. The Eagles are coming off a 74-67 win over Sacramento State in their last outing. Venky Jois had a good game and claimed his sixth double-double of the season, accumulating 24 points and 12 rebounds.
Over the last five games, Bogdan Bliznyuk and Jois have been on a tear for the Eagles. During that stretch, Bliznyuk has averaged 14.0 points, 9.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.8 steals, 2.2 blocks, and 1.2 three-pointers. Not to be outdone, Jois has put up 19.8 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.6 blocks.
The high-powered offense of the Eagles (eighth in the nation with an offensive efficiency of 118.1) will try to exploit the porous defense of the Lumberjacks (338th in the nation with a defensive efficiency of 113.2), a matchup that should be advantageous to Eastern Washington.
This will be the second matchup of the season between these two teams. The Eagles won the first game 96-73. Jois was a top performer in the victory with 21 points, eight rebounds, one assist, two steals, and two blocks.
Notes
In its last game, Northern Arizona lost by a margin of 22 points. Eastern Washington is 5-2 in games decided by a margin of 18 points or more. Northern Arizona has a 1-8 record in blowouts.
Northern Arizona averages 72.9 possessions per game, scoring .951 points on each possession. While Eastern Washington averages fewer possessions per game with 69.4, they score more points per possession with 1.181.
The Eastern Washington Eagles have one of the best effective field goal percentages this season, ranking fourth in the country with an eFG% of 58.5%. When their opponents record a similar or higher eFG%, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks are winless with a 0-8 record.
The Northern Arizona Lumberjacks average 6.4 steals per game. When giving up 6 or more steals, the Eastern Washington Eagles have a losing record (3-5) this season.
