BYU basketball: Cougars gearing up for critical game vs. Gonzaga

PROVO — Last March, BYU defeated Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 30 years.

Nearly one year later, the two teams collide again — and for the first time ever at the Marriott Center — as the Cougars host the No. 24 Bulldogs Thursday night (9 p.m., MST, ESPN2).

Once again, there's plenty at stake.

While this showdown lost some of its luster after BYU fell at home to No. 18 Saint Mary's last Saturday, it looms large when it comes to the Cougars' NCAA Tournament hopes.

Coach Dave Rose is optimistic about the outlook for the rest of the season.

"History will tell you that our teams get better in February into March," he said. "Right now, this team has that opportunity. We'll see if they can take advantage of it."

Certainly, BYU's streak of five straight NCAA Tournament appearances is in jeopardy.

"The most important thing is to handle February the way we've always handled February," Rose said. "That's trying to get better day-to-day. With every loss comes kind of renewed urgency."

According to this week's NCAA RPI Report, Saint Mary's ranks No. 20, Gonzaga is No. 21 and BYU is No. 48.

"We're on that bubble, but we've just got to take care of our own business right now," said senior forward Noah Hartsock. "We'll have a lot of opportunities in these next few weeks before the West Coast Conference Tournament to get back to playing the way we have been."

The Cougars are looking to snap a two-game homecourt losing streak, including a stunning setback to Loyola Marymount two weeks ago.

Tonight's matchup is the first of two regular-season games between the Cougars and Bulldogs. BYU visits Gonzaga on Feb. 23.

"It's a big deal, not only because they're a big-name team, but because we're coming off a loss. We don't lose two in a row (at home) very often. It's up to us to make sure it doesn't happen," said forward Brandon Davies. "We're all focused on this one game coming up. We can't afford to look too far ahead into anything until we get this win. We don't have any room for error at this point."

When BYU announced it was joining the WCC, everyone immediately anticipated an intriguing rivalry between the Cougars and Gonzaga, which has won a share of 11 consecutive WCC regular-season championships.