Aztecs look for marquee win, Cougars look to defend home court.

The San Diego State Aztecs (20-7, 9-4) take a four-game winning streak to the Marriot Center, a place where the BYU Cougars (25-3, 10-2) haven't lost a game this season and have won 20 straight overall at. The Cougars are already guaranteed a bid to the NCAA tournament, but a win over BYU tonight would go a long way in assuring the Aztecs a bid as well. The Aztecs have struggled somewhat on the road this season, especially earlier in the year. SDSU has really come together as a team lately, including getting Junior Billy White healthy for the first time recently. The Aztecs set a school record against the Utes on Saturday, committing a team low 5 turnovers in a MWC conference game.

The last BYU loss at home was a little more than a year ago when UNLV handed them a defeat. The Aztecs will look to replicate that success. Although SDSU is only 3-27 all-time in Provo, they have won at least one game in the season series against the Cougars six straight years. The Cougars, led by Jimmer's 33 points, got a close victory at Viejas Arena earlier in the season, the only home loss of the year for the Aztecs. If the Aztecs want to run their streak of beating the Cougars at least once to 7 seasons, the must get the win tonight.

The Aztecs actually have a 7-6 winning record on the road for the season, but the definitely make more turnovers and miss more free throws on the road, which will be a big problem if they want to beat BYU. The Cougars are not a very good rebounding team at all which is a skill the Aztecs are very good at. The trio of forwards in Billy White, Kawhi Leonard, and Malcolm Thomas makes it very hard for any team to grab a rebound, especially on the offensive glass. The key for the Aztecs will be to make all of their second chance opportunities count in the paint and to make their free throws when the get fouled.

The Cougars aren't a very good rebounding team, but they are very good at running and shooting. Jimmer Fredette can easily put up 30 points on  you and the Aztecs don't really have anyone that can guard him. He was the difference in the first game and Steve Fisher will look for ways to keep him off balance. He will likely use a rotation of players to guard Jimmer to see what is most effective. Guards DJ Gay and Chase Tapley will probably start on him, but if that doesn't work, he may even have the much taller Kawhi Leonard try to cover him because of Leonard's athleticism.

Finally, the Cougars have a big rematch with New Mexico on Saturday, and if their fans reactions are any indication, they may have a lot of their attention of that game. This is not a trap game, SDSU is a very good team; but if BYU has even a little bit of their attention on New Mexico instead of the Aztecs, they will get burned. SDSU has improved as a team in every game this season, and are getting better as the season progresses. Their only two losses in the last 10 were the 2 point loss to BYU and an OT loss at the Pit. This should be a very close and intense game.