DENVER — Dave Rose invested a ton of playing time in what many projected was too many bodies.

But in the middle of the fray in the Mountain West Conference race, it is starting to pay dividends for the BYU basketball team.

Freshmen Chris Collinsworth and guards Jimmer Fredette and Michael Loyd now play quality minutes at critical times for the Cougars, and they are responding while gaining valuable experience for Rose.

It was never more apparent than the contributions made by the rookie trio in BYU's 69-53 road win over Air Force on Wednesday.

The Cougars (16-5, 5-1) now put that experience to the test in Laramie, Wyo., where they play the University of Wyoming (8-11, 2-5) Saturday afternoon on a game to be broadcast live at 2 p.m. on The mtn.

BYU's 16-point win Wednesday night at Clune Arena could be considered the same as a 24-point blowout at other places. AFA simply does not lose very often at Clune of late, especially by big deficits.

Wednesday's 16-point AFA loss was the Falcons' worse beating at home in seven seasons.

"This was really as good a team win as we've had all year long," said BYU coach Dave Rose. "We got great play out of our bench and really good play from our starters. Different players carried us at different points."

Fredette, who plays in relief for guard Sam Burgess and Lee Cummard as a wing player, shot only 4 of 10, mostly against AFA's zone defense, but his two treys came at critical times. He finished up with 10 points and a pair of assists in 24 minutes. Those 24 minutes, due to foul problems by Burgess, were starter's minutes.

Loyd came in relief of Ben Murdock, whom AFA defenders harassed for three-quarters court most of the game, extending the Falcons' defense to try and disrupt BYU's passing game. While Loyd did not shoot or score, he grabbed a rebound and had an assist in just six minutes, but more importantly, got some seasoning in a hostile league environment.

Collinsworth, who has become a rebounding specialist for the Cougars, played a lot of his 17 minutes at center because of the illness to Trent Plaisted in the AFA game. Collinsworth had three rebounds but has been averaging a carom every two minutes in league play heading into the last game.

"I looked out there once and saw three freshmen in Chris, Jimmer and Michael with Chris Miles," said Rose. "While they were in, they did a good job."

Said Rose, "When you get a couple of players that are leading your team and they play well, other players can build off of that."

Freshmen minutes also give Rose added fouls to apply on defense, protecting Cummard, Burgess, Murdock and even Plaisted.