BYU hopes win streak at No.14 Gonzaga continues (Feb 02, 2018)

Since joining the West Coast Conference in 2010, BYU has established itself as the clear No. 3 team behind Gonzaga and Saint Mary's.

The Cougars have been unable to catch the two frontrunners, partly because of inexplicable losses like Thursday's 76-69 defeat at Loyola Marymount.

But over the past three years, BYU has achieved unparalleled success in an unlikely place: the McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, Wash., where it will face the No. 14 Zags on Saturday.

The Cougars have won three straight at the Kennel, including last year's 79-71 victory over then-No. 1 Gonzaga that ended the Bulldogs' 29-game win streak.

In their past 10 meetings against all WCC foes, the Zags are 82-8; half of those losses have come against BYU.

And Saturday will likely bring an angry bunch of Cougars.

BYU's ugly loss in Los Angeles was came in the wake of last week's loss to Saint Mary's.

"We talked all week long about the challenge of this game," Cougars coach Dave Rose told the (Provo, Utah) Daily Herald. "Maybe it was the timing of the game with Gonzaga next, maybe it was the disappointment from Saint Mary's last weekend. Especially in the first half, we didn't have our guys like we normally have them. It was more of a competitiveness problem. They (Loyola Marymount) were playing with more passion and more desire than we were."

As they had the past two years against the Lions, the Cougars trailed by double digits in the first half.

But this time, they made just 5 of 24 from 3-point range and couldn't catch up.

It was BYU's 12th loss -- against 40 wins -- in the past four years against the WCC's bottom seven teams (the Zags are 52-0 and the Gaels 44-4 against those schools in over that stretch).

"This one's over. What can you do about it? You learn from it and move on to the next one," said forward Yoeli Childs. "The most important thing is the Zags on Saturday. We don't lose two in a row. We'll come out with that edge and that mindset that we're going to go into this place and win. We feel like we're a great team. No matter what happens, we drop a game, we know we're great, we know the work we've put in. We're going to come out and do everything we can to get this win against a very good team."

Gonzaga (20-4, 10-1) got by defensive-minded San Diego on Thursday to reach the 20-win plateau for the 21st consecutive season.

The Zags are -- at least temporarily -- tied with Duke (19-4), which can extend its streak to 22 with a win over St. John's on Saturday. Kansas (18-4) has the longest current streak with 28 in a row.

"Does that mean we're satisfied, happy, content? No," head coach Mark Few told the (Spokane) Spokesman-Review. "But it's still an accomplishment. With the schedule we've played and the people we've lost -- obviously everybody knows that from last year -- this group has represented themselves well."

The Bulldogs' balanced offense -- six players averaged better than 10 points per game -- will pose a challenge for BYU, which is third in the conference scoring defense (65.8 points per game) but sixth in field-goal percentage allowed (44.6 percent).

Few noted the defensive improvement from the Cougars, who are normally offense-first.

"First, we have to rest," he said after Thursday's rugged win. "We have to get in the same mindset that we did tonight, because BYU is much improved on defense."