Saturday, November 22nd, 5:00 (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: Student Rec. Center (3,168) -- Riverside, California. Television: None. Home Record: NAU 1-0, UCR 1-0. Away Record: NAU 0-2, UCR 0-1. Neutral Record: NAU 0-0, UCR 0-0. Conference Record: NAU 0-0, UCR 0-0. Series Record: Series is tied, 2-2.

GAME NOTES: The UC Riverside Highlanders continue their homestand today, as they are set to take on non-conference foe Northern Arizona. NAU was in action on Thursday night, dropping an 87-71 decision to UNLV. The loss dropped the Lumberjacks to 1-2 on the young season. Both of their losses have come on the road, as they'll return home to play three of their next four in Flagstaff. As for the Highlanders, they notched their first win of the season in Tuesday night's 61-49 verdict over Sacramento State. UCR opened its season with a 79-52 loss at New Mexico State. This is the second game of the team's three- game homestand. The all-time series between these two schools is tied, 2-2, though it was UCR notching a 78-60 victory in Flagstaff when the teams last met in November of 2004.

Josh Wilson and Matt Johnson scored 18 points in NAU's loss to UNLV. However, their efforts went to waste, thanks in no small part to the team's perimeter defense. UNLV was able to keep the Lumberjacks at bay by knocking down an impressive 11-of-19 three-pointers. Virtually every time NAU threatened, the Runnin' Rebels answered with a three-point dagger. After three games, Johnson leads the team with 16.3 ppg on the strength of 7-of-15 shooting from beyond the arc. His 18 points were a career-high, which broke his previous mark of 17 set in the opener against Utah Valley. Wilson is hitting 53.8 percent of his field goals and is next in line with 13.7 ppg. Zarko Comagic is averaging 10 points and a team-high six rebounds per game, but he sat out the UNLV game after suffering a mild concussion in Monday night's win over Haskell.

A victory this weekend would give UCR a winning record for just the fourth time since the team's transition to Division I in 2000. The Highlanders opened the home portion of their schedule with a gritty effort at both ends of the floor on Tuesday night. Brandon Dowdy led the way with 14 points, though he struggled a bit from the field, shooting just 5-of-14. Javon Borum scored 12 points, while Aaron Scott finished with 10 points and seven boards. The Highlanders atoned for an average shooting night by forcing 23 turnovers, which yielded a 22-6 edge in points off miscues. Head coach Jim Wooldridge brought in 10 new players this year, so there is expected to be a bit of a learning curve before they delve into their Big West schedule after the New Year. Borum is the only player averaging double figures, with 11.5 ppg on 53.3 percent shooting after two games.

Barring a setback, Comagic is expected to return to the lineup for NAU, which could give the Lumberjacks the scoring and rebounding boost they need to pull out a win on the road. Still, they'll need to tighten up their perimeter defense.

Predicted Outcome

Northern Arizona 75, UC Riverside 67