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Transcendent questions about the BYU Basketball Cougars are answered annually — sometimes happily, usually haltingly — long before the postseason by the buzz that surrounds the team. If the answers are believed to be affirmative, which they rarely are, imaginations soar and the crowds at the Marriott Center swell. If they are negative, no matter how glossy the record, the scope of the endeavor is seen as nice and notable but no big deal.

Can BYU have an impact on the national level? Can it make a sizable dent in the NCAA Tournament? Is this team different from Cougar teams of the past?

The answers this time around have jacked up the groove and the fond hopes not just of the fans but of the team itself. The difference now is that the players believe they are a force at any and all levels, capable of beating anyone.

"I see us doing things that previous BYU teams haven't done," said senior guard Jackson Emery. "This year, we know what it requires to have success. A fascinating trait with this team is every game we go into, there's no doubt in us that we can win."

It's happened in 18 of the Cougars' 19 games thus far, a record with enough propulsion to put them at No. 9 in the national polls.

Apparently, their belief that they are good enough to win every game is broad enough to include national coaches and writers. It certainly includes opposing coaches, such as TCU's Jim Christian, whose Frogs got rolled by BYU at the Marriott Center on Tuesday night.

"This team can make a deep run in the tournament," he said. "I like the way they play. What I really admire is that nobody steps outside his role. When Jimmer [Fredette] and Jackson and [Noah] Hartsock are shooting the ball well, they are tough for anyone to beat. They have great guard play and perimeter shooting, and that's a big part of going far in the tournament, and they have a guy who can carry them when he gets going."

That last point by Christian about Fredette is a huge one.

Not only are the Cougars a strong group, they are a strong group led by an All-American front man. Not just a star, but something even better — a senior guard who, beyond being an eye-popping scorer, constantly has the ball in his hands.

He can control the tempo of games and create shots for himself and his teammates, or get any of them to the foul line.

Add to that Emery, and the guard line mentioned by Christian is complete. The TCU coach is so enamored with the experienced Emery, he said — maybe with a bit of hyperbole, maybe not — that if he could trade for any player in the Mountain West, Emery would be his target. It's a comment that bothers Fredette not one bit.

"We've been here for four years, three of them together, and both of us have been through a lot of situations," Fredette said. "We're team guys who just want to win. We're both real competitive. We know we can play at a high level.

"Our team expects us to play at a high level. We expect it out of ourselves. When we get in tough spots, we look at each other and give a nod. Each of us knows what the other is thinking, we just go out and play."

That's exactly what happened when BYU fell behind at UNLV by 10 points. Fredette and Emery took — and hit — big shots to build a 20-plus-point lead in the second half en route to victory, a route seldom taken at Thomas & Mack.

"We were confident," Emery said. "We wanted to make a statement that we were there to play and win. And we did."

Emery and Fredette know the flip side. Both have been on teams that got crushed in the NCAA Tournament before last season's first-round win over Florida.

They seemed to observe what happened in defeat, unable at that time to alter the course, and save those lessons for when they could.

"Losing wore on guys," said Emery. "There came a belief that, 'Hey, we're not going to lose, we're going to fight to the death.' Now, we believe we should win …"

Every game.

Not that the Cougars are without flaws. Measuring them against the strictest standard reveals the following:

• They aren't the biggest team, at times getting beat on the boards.

• Sometimes the defense lags against athletic opponents.

• Emery pointed out that his team plays up to its potential only part of the time: "Playing a full 40 minutes is important for us. In order to be a great team, we have to have intensity all the time."

• The bench is short.

• The blessing of having terrific perimeter shooters, relying on those shooters, can become, at least on rare off nights, a curse when those shots aren't falling.

Christian said having Hartsock as a significant part of BYU's offense goes a long way toward easing the ever-present reliance on Fredette and Emery: "He gives them a third dimension."

If big man Brandon Davies smooths his efforts from periodic brilliance to steady contribution at both ends of the floor, BYU might cross into a fourth dimension this season that could change the transcendent questions into transcendent answers.

Nice and notable would transform into a very big deal.

"We have good talent," Fredette said. "We've shown that we can win tough games on the road and at home. We already expect to win. We just have to play."

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