Even when the record is in his favor, NAU men's basketball coach Mike Adras doesn't like to look at the previous year's body of work when trying to get a sense for the current year.

Because of that, Adras isn't thinking about his team's 1-14 record on the road last season as the Lumberjacks prepare for a two-game road swing that begins tonight against Santa Clara.

"I hope the returners will say something to the new guys, but I'm not really thinking about last year," Adras said. "Because we won a lot of games on the road the year before last, did that help us on the road last year? No.

"I don't really get that worried about what happened last year. We didn't do well on our first road trip of the year to (Arizona), so hopefully we'll do better on this one."

In 2007-08, the Jacks went 6-7 on the road and 4-4 in Big Sky Conference road games en route to a 21-11 season. Of course, they weren't able to follow that up last year, picking up just one road win at Sacramento State.

Senior forward Nick Larson was a part of both teams and knows the importance of picking up a road win whenever there's a chance. After today's game, NAU will still play seven of its next eight games on the road.

"We definitely need to get some wins on the road," Larson said "We have a big of stretch of them coming up and we can't come up empty. It would also give us some confidence before we go out on the road in conference play and that would be big."

The Jacks should have a good chance at a win against a Santa Clara squad that has lost its last two games to San Diego State and the University of Pacific by a combined 60 points. The Broncos (2-2) have struggled offensively, shooting just 35.7 percent from the field and 28.4 percent from 3-point range.

They are averaging less than 70 points per game and after their top two scorers, Kevin Foster and Marc Trasolini, the Broncos haven't developed another legitimate offensive threat. Still, Adras is wary of the Broncos.

"They haven't shot well the past two games, but they'll shoot better than they have," Adras said. "They didn't play well at San Diego State because Foster didn't make the trip and they didn't play well in the second half against U of P because U of P shot the heck out of the ball.

"They're good at home and it will be a challenge."

After the game against Santa Clara, NAU will fly south to San Diego on Thanksgiving in preparation for its game against San Diego State on Saturday.

The Jacks will hold a light shootaround on the afternoon of Thanksgiving and then have a traditional Turkey Day dinner as a team.

"We'll have the turkey and the mashed potatoes and all that. It will be the basketball family," Adras said. "Before we have dinner, we'll all sit around and we'll say something that we're thankful for and then enjoy our meal together."

POINT GUARD PLAY

For the first time this season, the Jacks could have a different starting five.

Adras has started Larson, Shane Johannsen, Cameron Jones, Gabe Rogers and Julian Olubuyi for the first four games of the season.

Today, he's considering starting freshman point guard Stallon Saldivar over Olubuyi. Olubuyi does have 20 assists to just three turnovers on the season, but is averaging just 3.7 points per game so far and has taken only nine shots.

"The assist numbers are good, but the decision making and the consistency isn't there yet," Adras said. "I moved Stallon into the starting lineup (Monday at practice). We'll see how (it) goes and whether or not Julian wants his job back or is willing to give it away."

Ideally, Adras would like to see both his point guards play better.

"I think they've played well at times, but they go into periods where they compound mistakes," Adras said. "They really don't understand time and possession and what's the situation of the game. That's the thing we haven't seen out of those guys yet. It's going to take some time."

PLATT BANGED UP

Junior sharpshooter Eric Platt is the team's second-leading scorer at 15 points per game, but he hasn't been healthy so far this season. Platt, who has battled shin splints for years, has seen the pain flare up again recently and it's prevented him from practicing.

Platt still hasn't missed a game, but he also has barely been able to practice because of the pain.

"They're not getting better," Adras said. "We were off Friday. He ran a little on Saturday and couldn't go, so we sat him. We were off Sunday and he didn't go (Monday). He'll have an MRI when we get back to see if there's a fracture. He just doesn't have the conditioning. He's not practicing.

"Conditioning is a factor, especially defensively. When you don't get out here and practice, it's tough to get better. We're in a catch-22 situation with him. I want to play him, but at the same time, he can't be a liability."

Daniel Berk can be reached at dberk@azdailysun.com or 556-2251.