Las Vegas

Sometime and someplace in his competitive life, Jimmer Fredette had been lower than he was immediately after BYU's tight loss to UNLV here late Friday night in the semifinal of the Mountain West Conference tournament, but it was hard to imagine when and where.

In those minutes, he was about as hangdog as hangdog gets: Walking off the court with a look of distress, dealing with more heartache from the Rebels, having flirted with a record 30th win but getting instead a fifth defeat, slumping and mumbling in front of a microphone in a postgame interview session.

He could barely find words.

"They just made shots at the end, made big plays, we didn't," he said. "That's what happened."

The game against Vegas was, in fact, a victory BYU could have taken, and that made the loss all the worse for Fredette, who scored nearly half of the Cougars' points, but made only 7 of 20 attempts.

After a determined comeback, they had the lead with just more than two minutes remaining, but couldn't do anything with it, exhibiting at game's end the same offensive inefficiency that troubled them throughout. On the whole, BYU made just 39 percent of its shots, just 33 percent in the second half, allowing UNLV to shoot 56 percent.

Fredette, of course, was painfully aware of all that, but wanted to forget it, and look ahead to the promise of a rapidly approaching NCAA Tournament, where fresh opportunity beckons. The Cougars find out Sunday, along with everyone else, what region they'll play in and what seed they'll be assigned.

That happier notion was the only one that lifted Fredette's downcast countenance.

"We are excited for the NCAA Tournament to come," he said. "Can't come soon enough because we want to get this loss off our back. But we feel good. Have a good week of practice and get ready to go."

Teammate Jonathan Tavernari added: "We can't cry over spilled milk. Game is over. ... We're a really good basketball team. We're going to show that on Thursday."

The question lingers: Are they a good enough team to win on the grand stage, under the bright lights, against competition that will be every bit as stiff as what UNLV presented?

History says no. BYU hasn't won a tournament game in nearly two decades. But Fredette figures history has no claim on his team. Only the future has that.

"We know we are a good team," he said, emphasizing the second word in that proclamation.

Still, the loss to Vegas revealed a big weakness in the Cougars that certain teams can exploit. They struggle defensively against effective big men in the low post, and they depend heavily on scoring from their perimeter players. When athletic teams can get up into those scorers, when the shots from distance aren't falling, BYU can't rely on points from its low-post players.

On Friday night, the Cougars got a total of five points from Brandon Davies, Noah Hartsock, and Chris Miles. The other 61 came off of jumpers, drives, and free throws from guards and small forwards.

They say March Madness is ruled by strong guard play, and if that holds up, and if BYU gets hot, the Cougars may, indeed, make some hay. As was etched all over Fredette's face, they are a competitive outfit. Of the small number of things they lack, heart isn't one of them.

"We've been beat a few times, but not many," Dave Rose said. "So, that's a special group of guys. ... The best feeling that you can have is the fact that this team has been really good for four months, and they deserve to keep playing."

Only they can determine now for how long.

GORDON MONSON hosts the "Monson and Graham Show" weekdays from 2-6 p.m. on 1280 AM The Zone. He can be reached at gmonson@sltrib.com.