By Steve Luhm

| The Salt Lake Tribune

Provo • BYU takes its second historic step as a new member of the West Coast Conference on Saturday.

The Cougars hope it goes better than the first.

Photos

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At a glance

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BYU vs. San Diego

At the Marriott Center

Tipoff » Saturday, 4 p.m.

TV » BYUtv

Radio » 1160 AM, 102.7 FM

Records » BYU 11-4, 0-1; San Diego 5-7, 0-0

Series » BYU leads, 2-0

Last meeting » BYU, 70-59 (2001-02)

About the Cougars » They are 7-1 at home. … Only two of their 15 games have been decided by less than 14 points and BYU lost them both (Baylor, Utah State). … C Brandon Davies averages 19.6 points and 6.7 rebounds over the last three games.

About the Toreros » They have lost three straight to South Alabama (68-62), Stanford (75-55) and UC Santa Barbara (65-61). … They are led by freshman G Johnny Dee, who averages 14.1 points and shoots 44 percent on threes. … Coach Bill Grier, a former assistant at Gonzaga, is in his fifth season.

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Only 40 hours after St. Mary’s spoiled BYU’s debut in the WCC with a dominating 98-82 victory Thursday night, the Cougars play their first conference home game against San Diego.

In a league with Gonzaga and the Gaels, the Cougars can’t afford an 0-2 start.

Coach Dave Rose and his players know it.

"St. Mary’s is a good team," said BYU’s Brandon Davies, who scored a career-high 28 points against the Gaels.

"They are well-coached and they played well. They were the aggressor all game long and we can learn from how they played."

BYU’s must quickly correct two glaring problems that surfaced at frenzied McKeon Pavilion.

Defensively, the Cougars allowed a season-high 98 points on 55 percent shooting, including 12 for 25 from the three-point line.

The Gaels’ Stephen Holt, who was 6 for 32 on three-pointers going into the game, made four of six attempts against BYU.

"They had guys play really well," said Rose. "So it’s one of those deals where give them all the credit in the world."

On the other hand, BYU must defend with greater urgency.

"We have to make sure we rotate and really communicate on defense," said Noah Hartsock, "because we have to get [more] stops."

BYU must stay out of foul trouble, too.

Four Cougars finished the St. Mary’s game with four personals.

The physical, aggressive Gaels enjoyed a 30-16 edge in free-throw attempts, including a 16-3 advantage in the first half.

"We have to develop more confidence in our defensive system," Rose said. "What we need is more confidence in our own ability to execute and our teammates’ ability to execute because we have guys getting out of position trying to compensate for [an] initial mistake."