Cougar Basketball to Take on Rams

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    By Matthew Reichman

    The defending champion Cougars roll into league play this Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Marriott Center and are looking to leave the Colorado State Rams in their wake en route to a second consecutive Mountain West Conference championship.

    BYU has a title to defend, the nation”s second-longest, active home winning streak (39) to further, the top spot in the preseason polls to justify and payback to dish after a tough loss at Winston-Salem Tuesday.

    “They [conference games] are honestly more important because they mean something to you,” BYU center Trent Plaisted said Thursday. “You don”t get a banner for going undefeated in non-conference play. You win a banner for winning a conference championship, and that”s our goal.”

    The Cougars hit the floor with an 11-4 overall record, while the Rams come to Provo at 6-9 overall, having lost six of their last seven contests, including a loss to league foe UNLV. Each team defended its respective house against each other last season, with BYU snagging a 76-67 win at Provo and CSU winning the 90-78 contest at Fort Collins.

    “People ask why they [conference games] are more intense,” BYU head coach Dave Rose said after practice Thursday. “I think that what happens is that you”re scouted a lot more extensively and spend a lot more time preparing for your conference opponent than you do a non-conference opponent, where a coach still spends a lot of time worrying about his own team. Once you get to conference play, the coaches spend more time preparing for their opponent.”

    This could in part explain BYU”s recent 79-62 loss to Wake Forest and 73-70 loss to Boise State. More game tape to scout has offered BYU”s opponents a better opportunity to eliminate the Cougars” comfort zones on the floor, Rose said.

    “In the Wake Forest game it looked like we were getting the same shots, but when you watch it on film, our pace was different,” Rose said. “They sped us up a lot.”

    The volatile Mountain West Conference, although not currently boasting any nationally ranked teams, will certainly be a competitive test for the Cougars. New Mexico and UNLV lead the pack with a conference win each and 14-2 and 12-3 overall records, respectively.

    “I think that all of us as players and coaches know it”s a beginning of a new season now that conference starts,” BYU guard Ben Murdock said Thursday. “Everybody”s going to have us scouted perfectly. We”re going to know exactly what they do, so we just have to prepare ourselves better throughout the week.”

    The Cougar squad has passed through a real crucible in non-conference play this season, battling No.1 North Carolina, No. 6 Michigan State and formerly ranked Louisville. Their gritty play against NCAA juggernauts earned them a spot in the national ranks as early as Nov. 26, the earliest national poll appearance for BYU since the 1980-81 season.

    “I think the non-conference schedule was really good for this group,” Rose said. “We played some really good teams that exposed a lot of things that can help us get better.”

    The Cougars hope to have the usual loud and proud BYU crowd at the Marriott Center Saturday to kick off conference play with a bang.

    “We love it when this place is filled,” Plaisted said. “Our fans are great, they”ve spurred us on to a lot of wins at this place. The more the merrier.”

    Fans can watch the game on The Mtn.

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