BYU NewsNet - BYU to Face TCU Saturday

After Wednesday's championship-clinching, record-breaking win on Senior Night at the Marriott Center, BYU's trip to Texas Christian University on Saturday might seem like nothing more than an epilogue to the 2007-08 chapter. The Mountain West Conference is good and conquered, so what's stopping the Cougars (24-6, 13-2 MWC) from kicking up their feet and taking a load off in their last regular-season game before the festivities in Las Vegas begin?

"There's always something to play for and there's always something to improve," BYU center Trent Plaisted said.

"The other factor is that we hate losing ... I mean, like Lee Cummard, we're mad that we lose at wiffle ball or whatever we're playing out here," he said as he watched his teammates relax with some batting practice in the Marriott Center. "When you keep score of a game, we want to win. That's just the type of player Coach Rose recruited and that's the way we come out to play everyday."

A trip to the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum, where the teams will tip-off Saturday at 6 p.m. MST, is anything but a walk in the park to begin with. The seventh-place Horned Frogs (14-14, 6-9) are 13-3 at home this season. The only league visitors to steal a win in Fort Worth, Texas were UNLV and Air Force. While BYU's conference rank is concrete, TCU is just a game behind Air Force, so it's a sure bet they won't be taking the day off.

The Cougars also have a chance at a 25-win regular season, something no BYU squad has ever done before.

"I just found that out today," BYU coach Dave Rose said of the record.

Additionally, BYU's invitation to or seeding in the NCAA Tournament is still a question mark, so every minute on the court counts. The Horned Frogs have yet to best BYU since joining the MWC ranks in 2005, including an 83-72 loss at Provo in February. They're coming off a frustrating 57-36 loss at Air Force Wednesday. The Cougars, on the other hand, have gotten the better of 12 of their last 13 opponents.

It's often just as difficult to get over a win, however, as it is a loss, Rose said.

"I think that it's a real sign of maturity when you can let whatever happens go, and then move on," Rose said. "We've done a good job in both situations. We've done a good job when we really needed to let it go because we didn't play very well. And then we've had some really emotional situations that could lead to a letdown, and you've got to let that go and prepare for the next one."

TCU's Henry Salter, the league's 11th-leading scorer with 13.3 points per game, has watched his team's last three games with an ankle injury. His teammate Kevin Langford follows with 13.2 per game, the same as BYU forward Jonathan Tavernari. Salter leads the conference in 3-point shooting, hitting nearly 48 percent from long range, so Langford has plenty of slack to take up.

Fans can watch Saturday's game on the Mtn.