BYU hoops mission at NAU to not let 1 rough game turn into 2

PRESCOTT, Ariz. — BYU basketball coach Dave Rose knew leaving Chicago last weekend that his next big challenge wasn't so much the next opponent, but the next practice.

Nothing against Northern Arizona, who Rose said will also be a formidable confrontation for his Cougars Wednesday night, but BYU had to leave the Sears Centre after the drubbing handed down by Wisconsin feeling a little weak-kneed.

BYU was in the game early in the second half, and next thing anyone knew the No. 11-ranked Badgers (now No. 9) were up about 20 points. Rose, who rarely has dropped two games in a row during his brilliant seven years in charge, knew that Monday's practice among the Cougars -- not so much worried about NAU, but really focused on improving as a team -- would say a lot.

UW taught the Cougars exactly how much this year isn't like last season (at least not yet), and now they have to attempt to close that gap.

Rose was thrilled with the effort at the start of the work week, yet he also saw valuable rotation players Noah Hartsock (the team's best scorer) and Stephen Rogers (a shooting threat, if he can find his flow off the bench) leave the session early to leg injuries. Both are questionable for the 7 p.m. MST tipoff.

Question is, will BYU continue to beat itself up over one defeat?

"That's what you worry about as a coach," Rose said of his 4-2 team that will visit the 2-4 Lumberjacks, a Big Sky Conference outfit (joined with Weber State) in a somewhat neutral setting in Prescott Valley, Ariz., stamped in the middle between an hour's drive north of Phoenix and the NAU main campus of Flagstaff.

They'll be meeting at a $36 million facility that opened in 2006, mostly is used for indoor football and minor league hockey, and will serve as BYU's third of what will be four consecutive neutral-court games (two in Chicago, plus the upcoming game Saturday in Salt Lake City against Oregon).

"We are playing in Arizona so hopefully there are more NAU fans than BYU," said Stallon Saldivar, a Wasatch Front native who played at Judge Memorial and who had 11 assists and three points against Alabama State last season in Prescott Valley at the 5,100-seat venue. "I don't know if you can call it a home-court advantage but we are certainly closer to home and have less traveling."

The game between the Lumberjacks and Cougars is the biggest NCAA Division I men's college basketball game in the region since 1990, when NAU took on the then-second-ranked Arizona Wildcats, and is the first meeting between the two schools in 65 years, when NAU beat BYU 54-41 during the 1946-47 season. 

Northern Arizona returns three starters in 2011-12 from last season's team that finished 19-13 and made the sixth postseason appearance in school history.

NAU's best player, junior guard Gabe Rogers, is injured after a fluke accident in which he tripped at home and injured his shoulder. 

Rose wasn't pleased with his team's perimeter defense against UW. Also, the longer the season goes, and no decision appears firm on the point-guard spot, the more it looks like the Cougars are merely trying to stay afloat until Matt Carlino becomes eligible Dec. 17 for the home game against Baylor, a team that could cause them fits just as Wisconsin did.

Interestingly, perhaps not as much has been analyzed of BYU having an altered coaching staff. Certainly it hasn't attracted as much attention or alibi as the program losing three valuable seniors, including national player of the year Jimmer Fredette.

Mark Pope is now in charge of the post players. While Noah Hartsock has been stellar so far as a senior forward, as BYU's only double-digit scorer in every game, junior center Brandon Davies has been plagued by foul trouble and continued inconsistency. That was on full display for two nights in Illinois.

And the guy who Pope replaced, that ran the offense the last six years — Dave Rice — is now in charge of a UNLV team that just upset the top-ranked North Carolina.

Yes, it is a process. But Rose, a motivator extraordinaire, had no problem placing the onus on his players before heading to the high desert.

“Well, I think the most important thing is to try and get better, is to try and learn from the things that caused us to lose,” Rose said. “I think that their mental preparation as far as their desire to win is pretty sound. As far as things that we can address as a coaching staff to them, to help us play better in the next game, I think we have done that. Now it is just kind of up to them to perform.”

BYU (4-2) at Northern Arizona (2-4)

7 p.m. MST, Tim's Toyota Center (5,100); Prescott Valley, Ariz.

Radio: KSL 1160 AM (102.7 FM) 

TV: BYUtv

Tip-ins: The first meeting since 1946-47, won by NAU...BYU will play its fourth-straight neutral site game when the Cougars face Oregon in Salt Lake on Dec. 3 at 3 p.m. MST, in EnergySolutions Arena. ...Senior Noah Hartsock has been BYU’s most consistent contributor this season, averaging 16.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and 1 steal per game. He is shooting 60 percent from the field, 50 percent from three and 77 percent from the free throw line and is the only BYU player to score in double figures in every game so far this season.