BYU basketball: Cougars facing huge week

PROVO — With perhaps the biggest week of the regular season ahead, the BYU Cougars are not nervous, stressed or feeling pressure.

The way the Cougars look at it, having your destiny in your own hands with only four regular-season games remaining — and while carrying a No. 11/No. 13 national ranking, the school's best-record ever after 28 games, and looking at a potential high seed into the NCAA Tournament — is a pretty good spot to be in.

"This is how it's supposed to be, this is what we want it to be, so now let's just take advantage of that opportunity," coach Dave Rose said after Monday's practice.

If the Cougars (25-3, 10-2) can get past San Diego State on Wednesday when the Aztecs come a calling to the Marriott Center, the Cougars would likely then be playing for sole possession of first place in the Mountain West Conference and a Top 10 ranking on Saturday when No. 10 New Mexico (25-3, 11-2) comes to town.

"We're playing two teams that have had great seasons also, so we're going to have to be at our best," Rose said.

But, as the Cougars know, the first task at hand is getting past a San Diego State team that has won six of seven, with the only loss in that stretch coming in overtime to New Mexico in Albuquerque. The Aztecs (9-4 in conference) can still catch BYU and New Mexico in the MWC standings, and are considered a team on the NCAA Tournament bubble.

"I think San Diego State is as good as any team in this league," junior Jackson Emery said. "And if you overlook a team, any team is capable of surprising you and there goes your hopes of winning a championship. So we just have to take it one game at a time."

The Cougars are addressing this key stretch with that one-game-at-a-time mentality. Not only have the coaches reminded the players of the importance of not looking past Wednesday's game, the players are reminding each other of how they've been successful this season by not getting ahead of themselves.

"We've done a really good job of keeping it one game at a time, and it shows because we haven't really slipped up on any teams that maybe we shouldn't have lost to," junior guard Jimmer Fredette said.

Beyond this week, the Cougars still have a tough road game next Wednesday at Utah before finishing the regular season off at TCU. Two wins this week would certainly go a long ways to grabbing a fourth-straight regular-season title, but they wouldn't guarantee anything.

"This group has a lot of basketball left in front of them," Rose said. "But what we've done to this point they should be proud of themselves, as far as their individual preparation and then being able to go out and execute a game plan."