N. Arizona +21, 2*
This is a good team getting a lot of points from a team that routinely hasn;t showed up to play over the years. Like Loophole said, in his thread, this is just too many pts.
LOS ANGELES - After a long day of bus travel, delayed flights and missed meals, NAU basketball coach Mike Adras didn't really expect an inspired practice out of his team Sunday afternoon.
But when the Lumberjacks stepped on the floor at Pauley Pavilion, something clicked. Perhaps it was the great history of the building, or the knowledge that athletes such as Bill Walton, Kareem Abdul-Jabaar and -- more recently -- Baron Davis played and practiced in Pauley on a regular basis.
Or maybe it was the fact that the Lumberjacks, who are riding a four-game winning streak, are playing with so much confidence that they truly believe they are capable of knocking off one of the nation's most storied programs tonight in Westwood. The intensity of Sunday's practice reflected that notion.
"The aura of the building must have taken over," Adras said. "We had a live, 25-minute workout of five-on-five basketball that was as good as we've ever had. Everybody was going hard. It was really nice to see."
Certainly, the Lumberjacks will have their hands full with the talented and athletic Bruins tonight. UCLA is deep and explosive, though not so much as No. 1 Arizona, which handed NAU its last defeat Nov. 27.
But UCLA has already lost once at home to a mid-major program, dropping its opener to San Diego, a middle-of-the-pack West Coast Conference team.
Couple that with the confidence the Lumberjacks have gained in winning four straight games, and NAU players believe they have a legitimate shot at beating a Pac-10 team for the first time since the Lumberjacks topped Arizona State in 1997-98.
"We're just exuding confidence," said NAU forward Ryan McDade, who scored 12 points while playing just 14 minutes while battling foul trouble at Southern Utah Saturday night. "I think when we play together we all know we can beat anybody. It has been so much fun this year. We're having a great time, and everyone is just working to win."
For the Bruins, it starts with 6-foot-8 forward Jason Kapono. A preseason candidate for the Wooden Award, Kapono is averaging 18.8 points per game and may be as tough a matchup as there is in college basketball. He isn't afraid to bang around in the paint, though he's better at shooting the basketball from the perimeter. Kapono is UCLA's career three-point shot leader with 262 and he uses his height advantage to shoot over people from just about anywhere on the floor.
NAU freshman Kelly Golob will draw the assignment of guarding Kapono.
"It's not like he's just a one-dimensional player, a shooter," Adras said. "He can pull up, he can take it to the basket. He can physically overpower you or he can finesse you. He's a good player."
Ray Young is another dangerous shooter for the Bruins, and guard Dijon Thompson has come off the bench in UCLA's last two games, but he exploded for 23 points in 21 minutes in the Bruins' home win over Portland Saturday.
For the Lumberjacks to have a chance at pulling an upset, they need to limit UCLA's offensive rebounds and survive the first five minutes. Portland tried to run with UCLA Saturday and that strategy was hardly effective. The Pilots missed shots and didn't box out and the game was effectively over after the first five minutes.
"Portland tried to go up and down and UCLA had a 22-3 rebounding edge seven minutes into the game," Adras said. "The game was over. (UCLA) has that ability. They've shown it."
One of the key factors in the Lumberjacks' modest four-game winning streak has been the comfort level of sophomore Kyle Feuerbach, who has developed since becoming the starter at point guard after Chris Ferguson went down with a stress fracture to his foot.
Feuerbach continues to play close to 35 minutes per game and he found his shooting touch for the first time all season at Southern Utah. He went 4-for-6 from three-point range and finished with 15 points and recorded his second straight eight-assist game.
"He's needed to step up since Ferg has been gone," McDade said. "For him to be playing as well as he has is a real boost for us."
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