Key matchup: Jalen Cone has leading role in Lumberjacks’ offense set to take on Gonzaga on Monday

Jalen Cone transferred to Northern Arizona from Virginia Tech to assume a bigger role and showcase his game.

Cone has found what he was looking for, bumping his scoring average from 9.2 points last season to 17.6 and his playing time climbed from 19.9 minutes to 33.5. The 5-foot-11 guard is featured in NAU’s offense, similar to how the Lumberjacks utilized point guard Cam Shelton last season before he transferred to Loyola Marymount.

It’s one of the reasons Cone picked NAU after reportedly considering Oklahoma State, Indiana, Penn State, Nebraska, Buffalo and Iowa State. He’s listed as a sophomore despite playing two years at Virginia Tech, indicating he’s taking advantage of an extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA during the COVID-19 impacted 2021 season.

Cone enters Monday’s game against Gonzaga on an interesting four-game stretch. He had a season-low four points on 1-of-9 shooting against Weber State, before rebounding with 24 points in his best shooting game of the season (7 of 14 from the field, 5 of 9 on 3-pointer) against Idaho State.

He followed that up with a season-high 33 points, but it required 31 shots. He made 7 of 15 3s. He scored 20 points on 6-of-20 shooting in NAU’s loss to San Diego on Saturday night in the final game of the Jerry Colangelo Classic.

The Walkertown, North Carolina, native has scored at least 20 points in five of the last seven games, but he’s actually shooting better from 3 (37.2%) than 2 (35.2%). He’s the team’s leading scorer by 6.5 points.

Rasir Bolton will probably draw the defensive assignment on Cone with Nolan Hickman an option coming off Gonzaga’s bench.

The Zags should keep Cone busy on the defensive end. Bolton hit five 3-pointers and scored 15 points in GU’s win over No. 25 Texas Tech in the first game Saturday in the Colangelo Classic. Hickman contributed seven points and three assists in 18 minutes.