Sacramento State was scarcely cold following a 128-78 hoop assassination at the hands of BYU, and already the Cougars were talking about Utah.
Whatever happened to "Savor the moment?""The stage is set for a great game," said Cougar guard Kurt Christensen.
"We're prepared, we're ready," said forward Jared Miller.
If Thursday's game was intended to be a tuneup for the Utes - which BYU coach Roger Reid denies - it served its purpose. All 12 Cougar scholarship players logged double-figure minutes, and six scored in double figures. Everyone scored, everyone was happy, except perhaps walk-on Shawn Lindquist, who played just three minutes.
Reid opened the game with his five seniors - David Astle at center, Gary Trost and Jared Miller at forward, and Kevin Nixon and Nick Sanderson at guard - making their final home appearance. That group jumped out to a 22-9 lead in the first six minutes, led by Astle's eight points. Astle finished with 15 points on five of eight from the field, and 10 rebounds. His previous career highs were four points and six boards.
Trost suggested that the Cougars might want to surprise the Utes with their new "secret weapon." "I'll get in early foul trouble, on purpose, and David (Astle) will come in and go to work," Trost joked.
The second unit - Christensen, Randy Reid, Russell Larson, Mark Durrant and Shane Knight - didn't fare quite as well, although they did dunk better than the older guys. John Fish and Shawn Lindquist even made first-half appearances as BYU cruised to a 62-48 halftime lead.
Even though this game was strictly playtime, Reid let his players know that he wasn't excited that the Hornets, a team shooting 37 percent from the field on the season, had shot 57.6 percent in the opening half. Predictably, the Cougars clamped down in the second period, holding CSUS to 32.5 percent.
It helped that Reid went with better combinations in the second half - you know, guards playing guard positions, forwards playing forward positions, etc. BYU steadily built its lead to 89-65 at the 12:35 mark, then went on a 15-0 run that absolutely buried the Hornets.
BYU reached the 100-point mark with 8:14 left, causing everyone to reach for the media guides to look up the school record for points scored. It was 123, last accomplished against San Diego State in 1980. The Cougs also broke Marriott Center records for points in a game - previously 121, vs. Utah State in 1987 - and biggest winning margin - 42, vs. Baylor in 1979. For the record, Ryan Cuff's only basket, a three-pointer, tied the record, and a layup by Sanderson broke it.
Sacramento State coach Don Newman said he felt no ill will toward Reid over the high score. He knew his 3-23 team was in trouble when he realized Wednesday that it was BYU's final home game.
"You can't expect anything different," he said. "I certainly didn't look at this as a team trying to pour it on."
Calling the Cougars "relentless," Newman said they possess "unbelievable size and skills" and a point guard "who really knows how to make his team go."
Newman's team also played the Utes, back in December, losing by 29, which led to the inevitable request for comparison. "I'm not a betting man," he said, "but I'm definitely not going to go against these Cougars."
Reid said his main concern coming into the game was to see that it not turn into a "carnival."
"I wanted to make sure they stayed focused and worked," he said. "In the second half, I thought we really did buckle down and play some defense."
Mostly, though, they played offense. The Cougs shot 70.3 percent in the second half, 64.3 for the game. They made 8 of 15 three-pointers and 30 of 34 free throws.
BYU's leading scorer was Sanderson, with 20, followed by Miller, 17; Astle, 15; Larson, 14; Reid, 13; and Nixon, 11.
And, if nothing else, this game extends the 22-5 Cougars' win streak to 13 and puts them a step closer to a decent NCAA Tournament seed.
And to Saturday night's showdown with Utah.