No one is more aware that the NAU men's basketball team is mired in a four-game losing streak than head coach Mike Adras.

And, while Adras certainly would like to have a few more wins to his team's credit, he's not as upset as you might imagine and thinks his team is playing some pretty good ball.

"That's the part that I'm keeping in perspective," Adras said. "We just went on a three-game road trip and we lost the front-end and back-end in overtime and we had a shot to win both games. I really don't feel like we're playing poorly and losing, we just haven't done enough to get a few wins."

NAU's current four-game skid started on Jan. 30 at home against Montana, when the Grizzlies pulled away in the second half for a 20-point victory.

NAU then took Northern Colorado to overtime on Super Bowl Sunday, but couldn't come up with a win and lost by seven.

Last weekend, NAU headed back on the road for a two-game swing at Weber State and Idaho State. The Jacks struggled against the Wildcats and lost by 10.

One night later, NAU lost by two to Idaho State in overtime, 73-71.

Now, at 5-8 in Big Sky Conference play, the Lumberjacks are fighting for their league tournament lives. The Jacks currently hold a half-game lead on Eastern Washington, NAU's opponent this Saturday, and they're just a half game behind Thursday's opponent, Portland State.

"This is a very important time for us," Adras said. "Being back home is real nice. I like our chances at home more than I like our chances on the road."

Adras said the team had a light practice on Monday and followed that up with a little heavier one on Tuesday. The 11th-year coach has been pleased with the team's mentality following another difficult loss.

"I think it's been very business-like this week," Adras said. "We're moving right along and we're getting a lot in at practice. They know what's going on. They know how important these games are and they're excited to play."

Adras said a big area of focus for NAU this week has been taking care of the ball better. The Jacks committed 34 turnovers in their two games last week and are last in the conference in turnover margin.

NAU is committing 15.5 turnovers a game, while its opponents are turning the ball over just 13.2 times a contest. The coach singled out junior guard Cameron Jones, who had nine turnovers and no assists last weekend against Weber State and Idaho State.

"It starts with Cam Jones," Adras said. "He didn't have an assist, yet he managed to have nine turnovers. We have to give ourselves better opportunities to score and make sure we have good possessions. When we get shots up, we have a tendency to make them. But, we have to get them first."

"Everyone needs to do a better of taking care of the basketball."

JUGGLING THE STARTERS

Last week, DeAngelo Jones and Shane Johannsen started both road games, but that could change this weekend.

Adras said he inserted Gabe Rogers and Josh Lepley into the starting lineup at practice on Monday and kept them there on Tuesday. He wasn't pleased with DeAngelo Jones and Johannsen's effort level.

"Shane and DeAngelo didn't practice well, so we put Gabe and Lep back into the rotation," Adras said. "We'll see what happens. They kept the position (Tuesday) and we'll see how they do (today)."

Jones started at the small forward spot and Johannsen started at one of the post spots.

LARSON HITS THE BOARDS

Senior forward Nick Larson, who will play his last two home games of his career this weekend, pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds in the loss to Idaho State on Saturday.

After not pulling down double figure rebounds in any game during his first three years, Larson has done it twice this year during his senior season.

"He just continues to play big for us," said Adras of the 6-foot-8 forward. "He played so hard at the Idaho State game, it was inevitable that he was going to foul out. He just always plays hard and he continues to do that in practice. It's really nice to see the different contributions he's making."

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