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Provo • The bubble-sitting BYU Cougars have apparently grown tired of hearing people say and write that they don't play defense.

Sure, Kyle Collinsworth had 20 points, eight rebounds and three assists and Skyler Halford and Chase Fischer combined for 27 points, but the biggest reason high-scoring BYU was able to upset No. 3 Gonzaga on its home court Saturday night was the Cougars' defense.

Gonzaga, which leads the nation in field goal percentage (52.4), shot 44 percent and committed 12 turnovers in losing for the first time at home in 42 games. It was Gonzaga's first conference loss at home since 2010 — the season before BYU joined the league.

The loss also snapped a 56-game home win streak against unranked opponents for the Zags, who never had the lead for the first time at home in 125 games.

"We made some mistakes [on defense]," said BYU coach Dave Rose. "But we were so engaged in each play. I mean, we didn't take plays off and we didn't let someone else go try and get a loose ball. We had three or four guys involved in every play, offensively and defensively."

The cover of Sunday morning's Spokesman-Review newspaper summed it up well with a photo of BYU guard Frank Bartley swatting a Gonzaga offering into the seats. Corbin Kaufusi added seven points, three blocks and two steals against GU's formidable front line.

"Yeah, absolutely," Collinsworth said, when asked if that was BYU's best defensive performance of the season. "And that's been our big focus, just rebound and play defense. We have been at it really hard the last month in practice, and it is showing up. We are just trying to out-rebound our opponent. I think we are 19-0 when we out-rebound our opponent. I think we out-rebounded them by two tonight. So there you go."

Skyler Halford, who continued his outstanding February play off the bench, said the Cougars wanted to show the Zags they could play defense after giving up 87 points to them in late December.

"We were on edge, and that's what we have been trying to focus on all year, is making sure we stay on edge, especially on the defensive end, that we communicate," Halford said. "I felt like, all night long, we were good. We weren't going to play a perfect game. We knew that. We made a couple mistakes, but overall, as a collective group, we just played with an edge."

Having completed the WCC regular season with a 13-5 record (22-8 overall) and tied with Saint Mary's for second place, the Cougars earned the second seed via tiebreaker procedures and will play in Saturday's late conference tournament quarterfinal. They will face the winner of Friday's Loyola Marymount-Santa Clara game at 9 p.m. MST Saturday.

Meantime, the debate will rage nationally whether BYU's historic win got it into the NCAA Tournament. Late Saturday night and Sunday morning there was no consensus; ESPN's Joe Lunardi has BYU as the first team out of the bracket, while others, such as ESPN's Jeff Goodman, said the win did the trick.

As for Rose, he shied away from the debate — as he is wont to do.

"It is a good win. It is a really good win," Rose said. "You get into February and March and you beat a team that is on of the top five in the country, that says a lot — especially beating a team that is on a roll and has been winning some games and playing well. So hopefully we can keep it up."

BYU players were also diplomatic.

"I don't know. That's for them to decide," Halford said. "We know where we stand right now, and we know what we gotta do. We are going to take it one game at a time and see what happens.'

Added Collinsworth: "I will let [the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee] decide. I will continue to go to school and play basketball. I will be better for that."

Twitter: @drewjay —

West Coast Conference tournament

At Orleans Arena, Las Vegas

Saturday's quarterfinal game

No. 2 BYU vs. Loyola Marymount/Santa Clara winner, 9 p.m. MST

TV • ESPN2

Note • No. 10 LMU and No. 7 SCU meet at 9 p.m. MST Friday