Have things improved from a season ago for the Lumberjacks? We saw some of the same issues for NAU in its recent game at Stanford as hampered the Lumberjacks a year ago, namely a lack of rebounding, which was the worst in the Big Sky as a season ago. The Cardinal easily controlled the glass 31-22 en route to a breezy 90-64 romp at Roscoe Maples Pavilion. Concerns also remain on the offensive end despite the return of four starts from last year's 14-19 entry. Three-point shooting, at a mere 31.2%, was also bottom of the Big Sky, and the offense lacked dynamism outside of G Trent McLaughlin's 16.6 ppg (McLaughlin did score 20 in the Stanford loss). Meanwhile, it's a new dawn at UOP as the Tigers have circled the wagons for new HC Dave Smart, via Texas Tech but also with extensive background in Canadian hoops at Carleton, where he won a Geno Auriemma-like .925 percent of his games in 19 seasons. The Tigers impressed in their three games at Honolulu within the last week, as Canadian transfer wing Elias Ralph (18 ppg) and 6-5 combo G Elijah Fisher (previous Texas Tech & DePaul; 17.5 ppg) have lent a new sharp edge to the attack. Play UOP