Jack Murphy knew entering this season he would have his work cut out for him.
In his third season as Northern Arizona’s head men’s basketball coach, Murphy led NAU to 23 wins, including the first four non-Big Sky Conference Tournament postseason victories in school history.
After a fourth-place finish in the Big Sky, NAU took Big Sky Tournament host Montana down to the wire in Missoula before the Grizzlies prevailed, 61-59. NAU was awarded a bid to the Collegeinsider.com Tournament. The Lumberjacks defeated in-state rival Grand Canyon in Flagstaff before getting past fellow Big Sky member Sacramento State on the road. With more than 3,600 fans in attendance, NAU defeated Kent State at the Walkup Skydome and days later, defeated the New Jersey Institute of Technology in front of 5,500 in Flag, punching a ticket to the CIT championship game.
“The momentum we had off of last year helped in recruiting,” Murphy said. “(NAU starting guard) Marcus DeBerry has a bright future and we probably don’t get him if we don’t make that CIT run. He was on his official visit for our quarterfinal game against Kent State when the Dome was really electric.
“The black and white, you see how it affected the program right away. In the bigger picture, it shows that we can have success not just in the regular season but in the postseason. Those were the first postseason wins in school history. That’s a huge step.”
That NAU squad lost a quintet of seniors: second-team All-Big Sky forward Quinton Upshur, honorable mention all-conference guard Aaseem Dixon and enforcers Gaellan Bewernick, Zachary Reynolds and Len Springs.
“We lost five really significant seniors who graduated so our mantra all summer was to develop leadership of the returners,” Murphy said. “Those plans got thrown through a loop when you lose Jordyn Martin for the season.”
Martin, the reigning Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Year, broke his leg three games into the season and was lost for the year. Jaleni Nealy, a senior who started nine games last season, also suffered an injury and has not played a game in Big Sky Conference play.
The result has been a sudden rebuilding project for Murphy and the ‘Jacks. First-team All-Big Sky point guard Kris Yanku and supersized forward Ako Kaluna are the only two contributing upper classmen in Murphy’s rotation. Kaluna, a 6-foot-7, 300-pounder who looks more like an NFL tackle than a power forward, broke his foot during the off-season, an injury that slowed him early, Murphy said.
As NAU prepares to make the Treasure State road swing — the Lumberjacks play at Montana State on Thursday night and at Montana on Saturday — the team has struggled to find its rhythm. NAU is 4-18 overall, 2-9 in Big Sky play although they did snap a seven-game losing streak with a 72-70 win over Idaho in Flagstaff last week.
“Veteran to inexperienced,” MSU second-year head coach Brian Fish said of NAU’s transition. “They knew what they wanted, they had purpose to everything they did a year ago. Now they have a lot of young talent out there that’s very impressive on film. They’re still finding their way a little bit, but if you look at their scores they’ve been in every (league) game but one. They’re a very scary team because they’ve got guys that can hit 3s pretty easy.”
DeBerry has been a starter since seven games into the season. Over the last eight games, redshirt freshman Torry Johnson has broken into the starting lineup. Three games ago, true freshman Mike Green has found a role as a starter. Against Idaho, Murphy even elected to bring Yanku, a 15.6 points per game scorer, off the bench.
“When you are 3-18, it’s not like bringing someone off the bench is going to cost you a win,” Murphy said. “Our three freshmen have been playing well and playing well together.
“I think our freshmen class is developing and showing signs of improvement. I think we have a bright future.”
Green, a 5-foot-10 guard Fort Lauderdale, Florida, scored a career-high 23 points in a loss to Northern Colorado and has been on fire ever since. He dropped 22 against Idaho State and 20 against Eastern Washington. He is averaging 18 points per game over his last five games.
DeBerry, a 6-foot-5 swingman form Union City, Tennessee, is playing 35 minutes a game during conference play and averaging 11.1 points per game. He is shooting 44.8 percent from 3-point range against Big Sky opponents.
Johnson, a 6-foot-3 guard who led Morgan Park High (Chicago) to back to back Illinois Class 3A state titles, is averaging 7.8 points per game in conference play and providing stingy defense on the perimeter for NAU.
The Lumberjacks come to Bozeman looking for their second straight win, a feat the team has accomplished just once (Embry-Riddle, San Diego Christian) this season. After years of awarding the league champion the right to host the Big Sky Tournament, the conference elected to go to a neutral site this winter in Reno. All 12 of the Big Sky teams will travel to the Biggest Little City in the World, a topic that has created much debate throughout the league. Murphy, for one, loves that his Lumberjacks, arguably the league’s youngest team, still has something to play for.
“It’s fantastic because it gives the guys a chance to play for something,” Murphy said. “In years past, we would be thinking we are out of it and guys would hang their heads. But we talk all the time about Reno, Reno, Reno.”
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