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Rivalry games might not be a huge deal to BYU football coach Bronco Mendenhall, but they are to the other coach of a flagship athletic program at the school.

Basketball coach Dave Rose and players Kyle Collinsworth, Corbin Kaufusi, Kyle Davis and Nate Austin met with the media on Tuesday afternoon before boarding a bus to practice in Salt Lake City, and the message was crystal clear: Wednesday's game at the University of Utah is big.

" I mean, this is a really important game," Rose said. "I think that the preparation is a little more intense. There is more urgency in practice. I mean, our practice yesterday was really good. Hopefully our practice tonight, we will be able to see the same results.

They know a lot about us, and we know a lot about them, and hopefully our guys will be able to perform at their highest level. That's what you hope for."

Tipoff is at 8 p.m. at the Huntsman Center, and the game will be televised by the Pac-12 network.

Rose said the rivalry is as big as ever to the Cougars (4-1) because Utah (5-1) has won the past two games, a fairly lopsided game in SLC in 2013 and a tight affair last year in Provo.

"The opportunity probably seems a little bit more [because the rivals play just once a year now]," Rose said. "And the fact that we are on the bad end of this, I hope that our urgency will be a lot better as far as dropping the last two.

They are a very talented team, and a team that is really experienced playing together and they are really consistent in what they do and how they play. Hopefully we can find a few things that we can do, especially on offense, to go up there and score.

And defensively, it is really a challenge because they are a balanced team with a really good center. So, we have got our hands full. But it is exciting. It is an exciting opportunity and we look forward to it."

A lot of Tuesday's talk focused on how BYU will deal with Utah's Jakob Poeltl, the import from Austria who probably could have been a lottery pick if he had left for the NBA last summer.

"All of us, especially the bigs, are excited because he is a great player," said Kaufusi. "It just allows us to rise to the occasion and show all the things we worked on in the offseason and how we are going to handle it. It brings out the best when you go against the best. I am excited for that."

Last year, the Cougars were ultra-thin inside, and then got thinner when Austin tore a hamstring while stretching just before the opening tip. The Utes pounded the ball inside, got the Cougars in foul trouble, and controlled the game throughout.

BYU has four bigs — Kaufusi, Davis, Austin and Jamal Aytes — to throw at the Utes this year, which should help.

"Yeah, I hope so," Rose said. "I think that the fact that we play similar, with two post guys on the floor [helps]. There are times when they have a four-guard lineup when [Jordan] Loveridge plays the four. But I think that can help us. I think the fact that we are a lot more balanced scoring [will help]. They are a really good defensive team, and they have a great game plan every game going in.

The last couple of years we have had one big scorer that they've done a pretty good job on. Hopefully we will be able to balance this out a little bit and maybe that will help us."

Davis, who had to watch last year's game from the bench due to NCAA transfer rules, said it was painful to watch.

"That was hard, just the whole season watching your teammates and wanting to be out there with the guys," Davis said. "It is good to be out there and play and hopefully make sure what happened last year, getting killed in the post, doesn't happen this year."

Collinsworth, Chase Fischer, Austin, returned missionary Cory Calvert and Kaufusi are the only players who have faced the Utes, and Rose said it is tough to convey to the newcomers what the rivalry game is like, especially in Salt Lake City.

"I think the only way that you can really feel it is to experience it. It is a great road venue, and it has been that way for years," Rose said. "We had a break in it for a year or two where we had good [BYU fan] attendance up there because there were tickets available. There are no tickets available now, so it will be all Utah fans and there is a real challenge that teams, the personally of teams, they will take on these road experiences.

Hopefully, the experience of Kyle [Collinsworth] and Chase [will help]. And we talk about Kyle Davis as an experienced player because he has played at several places, but this will be unique to him. Then Nate Austin has been through it before. So hopefully we will get good, consistent games out of them and then see how it plays out."