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Coming off a disastrous 77-72 loss at home to Pacific, the BYU Cougars head out on the road for three games now, beginning Thursday night (8 p.m. MST, BYUtv) against San Francisco. The Dons (13-10, 6-6 WCC) are as streaky as the Cougars, and probably a better offensive team when they are rolling.

It was going to be a tall order for the Cougars at War Memorial Gymnasium (now called War Memorial at The Sobrato Center) before Tuesday's news, but now figures to be even more daunting.

Senior guard Chase Fischer suffered a shoulder injury of some sort early in practice on Tuesday, and on Wednesday BYU's sports information director for basketball, Kyle Chilton, informed the media that Fischer is "questionable" for Thursday's game.

"That is the official word from coach [Dave] Rose," Chilton said.

With the Cougars out of consideration for an at-large berth after the loss to the 7-15 Tigers in the Marriott Center on Saturday, there's a stream of thought from some quarters that BYU should rest Fischer this weekend, not even send him on the trip.

After all, it is going to come down to those three games in March in Las Vegas at the WCC tournament. BYU must win all three, including the championship game, to make the Big Dance — or so the thinking goes.

"With this [BYU] team, that's one thing in the WCC, is that every game is going to be a trap game," said BYU's Corbin Kaufusi. "Every game is a game that matters, because it doesn't matter who it is, there is something. You can lose a lot in every single game.

It is not like every team is a ranked team, so if you lose to them it is OK, they are higher ranked. Every game, you have to win. I think that is something that we learned, that you can't underestimate any of them. Every game has to be a big game."

Kyle Collinsworth is the Cougars' jack of all trades, Mr. Triple Double, but Fischer is just as valuable because he leads BYU in scoring with an 18.3 average. He's fifth among active career Division I leaders in 3-pointers, with 182. He's made 79 this season, most in the WCC.

This is the year of shoulder injuries for the Cougars. Freshman Zac Seljaas suffered a shoulder contusion against LMU on Jan. 21 and still hasn't completely healed, Rose said Tuesday.

On Zac Seljaas' shoulder injury:

"He is back to practicing 100 percent of the time, but that is just because he's really a tough kid. He's fighting through it. We will see. It is getting better. It is still really bruised. That's a good sign, though, of the healing. But he's not 100 percent yet, no. We need him to be, quickly," Rose said.

It is no secret — BYU's guards are in shooting slumps right now, especially freshman Nick Emery, who went 0 for 6 from 3-point range in the loss to Pacific. Rose was asked Tuesday about how they get guys out of slumps.

"What you hope for, is you know guys are going to go through difficult times," he said. "You hope it doesn't happen to everybody on the same night. Then if it does, you hope you've got guys behind them that can come in and pick you up, or maybe you've got some low post guys who can just get to the rim and score, get fouled, get to the free throw line. When all those things, you are struggling in, you are going to have a tough night.

I think the way that we've handled it here, guys who have gotten into a slump, is to bring them in, talk to them, and level all the outside noise and just concentrate on the task at hand, right now. Because a lot of people have a lot of things to say about everybody when things go well, and when things don't go well.

They just need to refocus and then get a lot of reps in the gym. Our coaches are really good at trying to get guys between classes, or before practice, or after practice. The more time you spend working in the gym on your shot, the more time you believe that you deserve to be successful. That's kinda how we work through it."

Rose also talked Tuesday about the need to get fastbreak layups; BYU's half-court offense has been mediocre this season, at best.

"Blocked shots is an interesting stat, because that can turn into two points on the other end, and so can steals," Rose said. "We have been pretty fortunate in some pretty close games, especially here in our gym, with some big steals late in the second half that have turned into points for us when we have had a hard time scoring in a half court set.

Transition baskets have always been important for us, and big for us, and when you are in a slump, then it is always good to see the ball go through the basket — getting fouled, getting to the free throw line, being able to make free throws and see that thing go in can really help you with your confidence. And then transition baskets, layups at the rim, can really help you.

Another thing that can really help a shooter is, if he misses a big guy jumps up there and sticks that thing back in. Because you feel like you contributed to the basket instead of you let everybody down. If you get a clean shot that goes in, that helps your confidence. If you get one that's soft, and it is a short rebound and one of your guys tips it in, that can give a real jolt to your confidence, too. Help you break out of tough times."