SAN DIEGO, Calif. — As recently as a couple of weeks ago, BYU was among the nation's top three teams in 3-point shooting.

But after a combined 4-for-30 performance last weekend at Air Force and New Mexico, the Cougars' percentage has sagged to 38 percent (from 42 percent in mid-January).

Their winning percentage has taken a dip, too, after losing back-to-back games for the first time this season.

"We had open looks, it's just a different environment on the road," Cleveland said of his team's shooting. And the Cougar coach is taking steps to remedy the problem. "Our guys don't get to go home (from practice) until they make one hundred 3's," he said.

BYU can't afford to shoot poorly again Thursday at 9 p.m. when it visits San Diego State at Cox Arena — even if the Aztecs are winless in the Mountain West Conference (0-5) and mired in a seven-game losing streak.

"We don't have the luxury of just showing up and winning in this league," Cleveland said.

In addition to improving their outside shooting, the Cougars need production inside, too. Forward Mekeli Wesley scored a total of just 22 points vs. the Falcons and Lobos.

"I forced a lot of shots when I was double-teamed. I made a lot of mental errors," Wesley said. "If I would have played the way I should have, we would have won those two games. If I would have played better, we would have swept the road trip instead of being swept."

As a result, BYU fell to 3-3 in the conference and stands in three-way tie for third place, along with Wyoming and New Mexico. Thursday contest is one the Cougars must win in order to keep pace among the league's elite.

"If Utah beats UNLV (on Saturday), the Utes are in good shape to win the conference," Cleveland said. "Second through sixth place will be decided that last week of the season." Fortunately for BYU, it closes the regular season with home games against Air Force and San Diego State.

For now, the Cougars have to worry about winning on the road if they hope to reach their preseason goal, a postseason berth in either the NCAA Tournament or NIT.

"We stole one (a road victory) at UNLV," Cleveland said. "We hope to steal another one before it's all said and done."

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Of course, defeating the Aztecs wouldn't be considered a steal. Yet SDSU isn't going to roll over for BYU, either.

Coach Steve Fisher is in his first season as Aztec coach, and he has an enormous rebuilding project on his hands. It's quite a departure from his former college job at the University of Michigan, where Fisher built a top 10 program. In 1989, he was named interim head coach after the regular season and led the Wolverines to the NCAA title.

Then, two years later with the famed "Fab Five," Michigan reached the championship game before losing to Duke (the Cougars lost to the Wolverines earlier in the 1991 season).

Fisher doesn't have nearly as much to work with as he had in Ann Arbor, however. His star is sophomore Myron Epps, who averages 15 points and six rebounds a game. Epps scored a career high last week at Wyoming with 32 points.

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