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Senior guard Anson Winder didn't play in BYU's 82-77 loss at Saint Mary's last month, and the Cougars went away wondering what the result might have been if their second-leading scorer and defensive stopper had been on the court.

It appears that they might now find out on Thursday night when the Gaels make their annual visit to the Marriott Center.

Coach Dave Rose said after practice Wednesday that Winder is questionable for the big showdown.

"He's got a groin injury he is fighting right now," Rose said. "It is the same leg as the knee that has been an earlier problem for him. So we will see how he feels tomorrow. He did very little in practice this week and we were hoping he would feel good today, but he is still pretty sore."

Rose confirmed Wednesday that senior Nate Austin won't play the rest of the season. Austin hasn't played since suffering a hamstring tear while warming up before the Utah game on Dec. 10, only his 10th game of the season. Rose said BYU will probably make a medical hardship appeal with the NCAA to get the year back.

"We had a conversation yesterday and he doesn't feel like it is healed. It wouldn't be 100 percent, and a couple of weeks ago he was excited to get back and try to help the team," Rose said. "In the three days we were gone on the trip he did a lot of individual work and really pushed it, and was really sore on Sunday and Monday. He just feels like it is not going to work.

We will look into trying to see if there is a possibility we can get his year back."

Thursday's game is a must win for the Cougars if they hope to move in front of Pepperdine in the WCC standings. The teams are currently tied for third, but Pepperdine would own the tiebreaker by virtue of sweeping BYU.

"We are feeling good," said Tyler Haws, who is 69 points away from tying Jimmer Fredette. "It has been a good week of practice, and I think we are ready to fight, and battle, and put together a good 40 minutes."

On the eve of the big game against SMC, somebody asked Rose if BYU needs to beat Gonzaga twice to make the NCAA Tournament.

Seriously.

"Uh, when do we play the Zags?," Rose said, with a slight grimace. "We have so much to do before we get there. You look at our situation now, I don't think we will match up with Gonzaga in the first round of that tournament. I don't know if that is a question I can answer. If you kinda project what you think might happen, that might be something, but I have to just deal with what is ahead of us. We play them the last game of the season, and hopefully we get a chance to play them in the [conference] tournament if that's what happens.

If they get beat in the first round and we advance, then we don't have to worry about Gonzaga anymore."

BYU is a six-point favorite, which account for the home-court advantage and not much else. On a neutral court, this game would probably be a pick 'em. Saint Mary's won the first four matchups since BYU joined the WCC in 2011, including the famous 2013 game in Provo in which Matthew Dellavedova hit a running 3-pointer at the buzzer for the Gaels.

The Dellavedagger. The Hell, Mary.

"We expect a tough game, hard-nosed," said BYU guard Skyler Halford. "We are going to have to fight every possession. They are a tough team. We will be ready for it. We are excited for the challenge. It is always a fun matchup between them and us. It should be a fun game tomorrow."

Kyle Collinsworth, who is gunning for his sixth triple-double, which would tie an NCAA record for most triple doubles in a career (held by Michael Anderson of Drexel and Shaquille O'Neal of LSU), said the key will be to keep Brad Waldow under control and stop the other Gaels, something BYU didn't do in Moraga last month.

"Waldow gets so much attention that sometimes we forget about other guys, and we turn our head and a guy cuts to the hoop. So it is just being more aware of our own guy and just being focused. Because they got a lot of open shots. So it is just covering our own guy and playing team defense," Collinsworth said.

By the way, Shaq got his sixth and final triple-double against BYU in an NCAA Tournament game.