PROVO — Considering the BYU men's basketball team is riding an eight-game winning streak and has been shooting at a blistering pace in recent weeks, finding a weakness in the Cougars' play right now is pretty difficult.
But coaches can always find areas for improvement. And even after the Cougars' 30-point blowout of the Arizona Wildcats on Monday, BYU's staff went back to work the past two days trying to fix a few defensive flaws that contributed to Arizona cutting a 23-point, first-half lead down to seven early in the second half.
"Defensively we had a lot of breakdowns and gave up a lot of shots right at the rim, and hopefully we can correct that," Cougars' coach Dave Rose said.
Ironically, defense has been a big part of BYU's hot streak. The Cougars say they're at their best offensively when feeding off of defensive stops and steals. The Cougars are sharing the ball better and shooting with more confidence right now than they have in years. In the past four games, they're averaging more than 90 points per game and shooing better than 60 percent from the floor.
Rebounding, a big focus in practices the past few weeks, has also contributed to those numbers. Rose feels the Cougars have become a very consistent rebounding team on both ends of the floor.
"That's kind of what starts our break, if we can get guys to miss shots and grab that thing and get going," he said.
The Cougars have played much better when staying on attack, and that's what Rose hopes will continue. He's seeing a team loaded with players who are focused on winning games and trying to get better.
"Right now I think our players are really comfortable with our system and really comfortable with how we're playing, but there's always another game. We all know in this business that things are going good right now, but it only takes one game to turn that all around," Rose said.
Before the most important games begin next week when UNLV comes to town to open up Mountain West Conference play, the Cougars have one more tuneup game tonight against Division II Eastern New Mexico. It's a home game that Rose added in August when attempts to schedule a prominent Division I team fell through.
"I wanted to get a game before we started league, after playing on a Monday," Rose said.
The Cougars might actually face the Greyhounds tonight without their top two scorers. Junior guard Jimmer Fredette has been battling the flu all week and hasn't practiced since the team returned from Arizona. He actually began feeling the symptoms the day before he scored a BYU-record 49 points against the Wildcats on Monday.
Also, in the final few minutes of Monday's win, guard Jackson Emery bruised his heel and he also has not practiced this week. Whether Fredette or Emery will play will be determined during today's pregame shoot-around.
"As a coach you want to have all your guys ready for every game," Rose said.
GAME NOTES: Eastern New Mexico plays in the Lone Star Conference, averages about 60 points per game and makes about 43 percent of its shots. The Greyhounds are led by Tyler Jefferson, who averages 12.4 ppg, and Reggie Nelson, who averages 9.2 ppg. This will be the first meeting between the two schools.
Cougars on the air
BYU (13-1) vs. Eastern New Mexico (5-5)
Today, 7 p.m.
Marriott Center
TV: None Radio: 1160 AM, 102.7 FM
e-mail: jimr@desnews.com