By Matt Reichman The Daily Universe

February 29, 2008

Provo, UT (UWIRE) -- On what many deemed the make-or-break road trip of the season, the Cougars broke even with a loss by a hair in San Diego last Saturday, and a win by a thinner hair in Albuquerque, N.M. Tuesday. It was enough to keep BYU (22-6, 11-2 MWC) in the league's pole position entering the season homestretch a game ahead of second-place UNLV.

Now the Cougars get to come home to the Marriott Center, the safest haven in college basketball, where BYU remains undefeated after a current nation-best 45 straight games. Tempting as it may be for fans to start jingling the keys, the Cougars aren't in the clear just yet. A single BYU loss gives UNLV a chance to catch up, and Air Force (14-12, 6-7) is more than willing and able to provide the upset when it comes to Provo on Saturday at 7 p.m.

"A team that goes out and plays that hard all the time kind of can worry you, because you never know what could happen," BYU freshman forward Chris Collinsworth said.

The Falcons may have dropped four of their last six games, but they still play defense stingier than anyone in the league, allowing just 58 points per game. Significantly outsized, they'll have to rely on their usual caffeine defense to keep up with the bigger Cougar squad. BYU's Trent Plaisted and Chris Miles have a solid three inches on even the tallest Falcons.

The San Diego State Aztecs aren't an especially tall team either, but their athleticism in the paint held Plaisted to six points and three rebounds Saturday. With enough hustle, even the scurrying Lilliputians can tie up a sleeping Gulliver.

"He was a lot more confident in the game on Tuesday," BYU coach Dave Rose said. "We did a better job of getting him the ball in positions to where he could really help our offense. A lot of times its how he's being guarded that causes problems, but I think we could do a better job as a team of being more patient and getting him the ball."

Plaisted has averaged 18 points in the Cougars' last three wins, but barely reached seven per game in BYU's last three losses. If the Falcons can run Plaisted around enough, they might be able to gum up BYU's offense. Considering Plaisted managed to down nine points and snatch nine rebounds at Air Force last month, despite battling a mean cold, this will be quite the tall order for the cadets.

"No matter if he's having a good game, or he only has two points, he commands respect from everybody, so I think guys suck in on him regardless," BYU guard Sam Burgess said. "So that opens us up anyway ... whether he's at two or twenty points we'll still throw it in to him."

The Falcons have a trusty scorer in senior Tim Anderson, whose 14.3 points per game give him the league's eighth best scoring average. When the squads faced off in Colorado Springs, Colo. last month, the Cougars didn't have an answer for Anderson once he got his legs under him, and he finished with 22 points. He's second in the league in playing time, so of Saturday's 40 minutes, BYU will be lucky if it gets an Anderson-free floor for five.

"It goes both ways, because we've got the height and size advantage, but then their five and four guys are like guards, and we have to guard them," Collinsworth said.

The Cougars might also be playing without starting point guard Ben Murdock, whose quick defense was a definite plus against the Air Force runners. Murdock sprained his ankle in the New Mexico game, and was still pretty sore at practice Thursday, Rose said.

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