Idaho State meets N. Arizona in Big Sky tourney

No. 11 seed Idaho State (7-22, 4-16) vs. No. 6 seed Northern Arizona (16-13, 10-10)

Big Sky Conference Tourney First Round, CenturyLink Arena, Boise, Idaho; Wednesday, 3:30 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Idaho State and Northern Arizona are set to do battle in the opening round of the Big Sky tournament. The teams split the regular season series at one win apiece. The teams last went at it on Feb. 6, when the Lumberjacks outshot Idaho State 54.5 percent to 49.2 percent and recorded five fewer turnovers en route to a one-point victory.

SAVVY SENIORS: Idaho State’s Chier Maker, Jared Stutzman and Chidi Udengwu have combined to score 41 percent of the team’s points this season, including 53 percent of all Bengals scoring over the last five games.

OFFENSIVE THREAT: Cameron Shelton has either made or assisted on 56 percent of all Northern Arizona field goals over the last three games. Shelton has accounted for 21 field goals and 16 assists in those games.

PERFECT WHEN: Northern Arizona is a perfect 10-0 when it scores at least 75 points. The Lumberjacks are 6-13 when scoring any fewer than that.

ASSIST DISTRIBUTION: The Lumberjacks have recently used assists to create baskets more often than the Bengals. Northern Arizona has an assist on 32 of 66 field goals (48.5 percent) over its past three outings while Idaho State has assists on 33 of 86 field goals (38.4 percent) during its past three games.

BALL SECURITY: Idaho State’s offense has turned the ball over 13.7 times per game this year, but is averaging 8.7 turnovers over its last three games.