BYU basketball: Surprising TCU is no lightweight opponent

PROVO — It's human nature for fans and some athletes to classify certain games as more significant and more challenging than others.

Coaches are usually the ones who have to put everything back into proper perspective, instilling in their players that every game, regardless of the opponent, is significant and important.

"Who the team is that comes here can't determine how important you think the game is," BYU coach Dave Rose said. "All league home games are very important in this conference."

That's the message BYU's coaching staff has been preaching this week in preparation for tonight's key Mountain West Conference matchup between the Cougars and TCU at the Marriott Center. The Horned Frogs, a team picked to finish at the bottom of the MWC by the league's media, are a huge surprise under first-year coach Jim Christian. Most likely, most Cougar fans didn't mark this one down a few weeks ago as a marquee game.

But with European transfers Edvinas Ruzgas, a 6-foot-6 guard, and Zvonko Buljan, a 6-foot-9 forward, joining returners Jason Ebie, Keion Mitchem and Kevin Langford in the lineup, the Horned Frogs have several impressive wins this season — road wins at Colorado and Texas Tech, and last weekend's home upset of conference-favorite UNLV.

"The way TCU is playing and the confidence with which they're playing, we know that we're going to get their best effort," Rose said.

The win over the Rebels puts the Frogs into a tie for first in the MWC with a 2-0 mark. A victory over BYU would really give TCU a leg up early on in the conference race.

Still, TCU's success of late has certainly gained BYU's attention, and the Cougars say they won't take the Horned Frogs lightly.

"They're a much improved team, they've been playing extremely well, they play really hard, so we're going to have to play well to win," Cougar guard Jimmer Fredette said.

Senior co-captain Lee Cummard added, "If you're going to contend you have to take care of your home court."

Even though Buljan (12.4 ppg and last week's MWC player of the week) and Ruzgas (11.8 ppg) have added some variety to TCU's attack, the Frogs still go through Langford — a 6-foot-8 senior averaging 13.2 ppg.

"He's a good player. He's very versatile ... he's one of the premier players in our league," Rose said.