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San Francisco • Perhaps BYU can find comfort in the fact it didn't crush San Francisco on Jan. 12 at the Marriott Center.

BYU won 85-75, but didn't easily put away USF like it did Santa Clara 89-59 and Pepperdine 99-70 at home in December and January. Of course, the Broncos and Waves got their revenge a few weeks later, exploding offensively on the Cougars and their inconsistent defense to win by eight and 16 points, respectively.

Which brings us to Saturday's game at San Francisco, as BYU tries to bounce back from Thursday's 99-83 loss at Pepperdine against a USF team that is 0-5 at home against BYU since it joined the league.

The Dons (18-8, 8-5 WCC) will have their reasons for wanting revenge, but a recent 30-point loss isn't one of them. Third place is on the line after the Cougars (17-9, 8-5 WCC) suffered another perplexing loss to a team they handled easily at home.

"I don't know what it is with these teams," BYU guard Nick Emery said. "I mean, they show up to play BYU, that's for sure. They played a heck of a game. It got away from us early. Just an embarrassing effort by us."

While the Cougars were playing without veteran point guard L.J. Rose, who was scheduled to have knee surgery Friday in Provo, San Francisco was holding off Santa Clara 61-58 on the Hilltop after taking a 25-point lead in the first half. Coach Dave Rose was forlorn after the loss and struggled to explain why the Cougars aren't the same team on the road as they are at home.

"I just told them we gotta turn this thing around," Rose said of his postgame comments. "We have to suit up and play a team on Saturday that gave us a really good battle at our place."

Not fouling so much in the first half would be a start. Without L.J. Rose and Corbin Kaufusi, who was home with the same sickness that limited Emery last week, the Cougars could ill afford to get in foul trouble against Pepperdine. But Eric Mika played 22 minutes and Yoeli Childs played 16. Both fouled out.

"A lot of it is a mentality of trying to compete in an uncomfortable environment," Dave Rose said. "And when young guys are on the road it doesn't feel the same as it feels at home. That's just a fact. You try not to emphasize it and you try to encourage guys, but their feet are a little bit slower and their response time is a little bit less."

Emery, who led the Cougars with 19 points on 8 of 12 shooting, his best offensive night since scoring 22 against USF on Jan. 12, said BYU allowed Pepperdine to set the tone early, and then couldn't shut the Waves off once Lamond Murray Jr. (30 points) got going.

"We gotta get better, defensively and offensively," Emery said. "Offensively, I think we did great, scored [more than] 80 points. But defensively it is not there yet. … We are a young team. We are trying to figure this out. It is going to take time, but I believe in these guys and the coaches. We will figure it out sooner or later."

Twitter: @drewjay —

BYU at San Francisco

P At War Memorial Gymnasium, San Francisco

Tipoff • 9 p.m. MST

TV • ROOT

Radio • 1160 AM, 102.7 FM, Sirius XM 143

Records • BYU (17-9, 8-5 WCC); San Francisco (18-8, 8-5)

Series history • BYU leads 16-6

Last meeting • BYU 85, San Francisco 75 (Jan. 12)

About the Dons • They nearly blew a 25-point first-half lead before hanging on to defeat Santa Clara 61-58 on the Hilltop Thursday. … They have won four straight games to move into a tie for third place in the league standings with the Cougars. … Matt McCarthy led USF with 10 points and seven rebounds and they shot 50 percent and made eight 3-pointers in the first half.

About the Cougars • They have not suffered consecutive defeats the entire season, but are in danger of that after falling 99-83 Thursday at Pepperdine. … They shot 47.5 percent against the Waves but allowed Pepperdine to shoot 57.8 percent from the field and 53.3 percent from 3-point range. … Freshman Payton Dastrup played 12 minutes and scored a career-high five points.