DENVER -- After a scrappy victory against the Wofford Terriers on Thursday in the second round of the NCAA Tourament, the No. 3 seed BYU Cougars will need to play the best game they have in a while if they want to proceed to the Sweet Sixteen.

Their opponent, the No. 11 seed Gonzaga Bulldogs, played one of their best games this season against St. John's and have momentum on their side.

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trip to New Orleans and the Sweet 16 awaits the winner of tonight's BYU-Gonzaga game here in Denver.

"They had such balance, they had great three-point shooting," BYU coach Dave Rose said. "I thought their inside presence defensively was very strong, very intimidating."

That inside presence by the Bulldogs could become a major problem for the Cougars, who have lacked any kind of their own inside presence since sophomore forward Brandon Davies was dismissed from the team for an honor code violation. The Bulldogs' frontcourt is led by seven-foot Robert Sacre, who is averaging 12 points and six rebounds per game.

"That will be one of our challenges (Saturday)," Rose said. "Our ability to rebound the basketball, our ability to be able to defend the low post. They do a great job of throwing the ball in there and pounding the ball on the glass."

The Cougars have shown that they can at least limit the effectiveness of opposing big men. Gonzaga knows even though they may have the upper hand down low, the Cougars still have All-American senior guard Jimmer Fredette, who scored 32 points against Wofford.

"He's been hitting just ridiculous shots. I feel like every time you watch him, you're like, He didn't just shoot that," Gonzaga senior guard Steven Gray said. "Night in, night out, that's what he's doing. You definitely got to respect him and know that he's capable of putting it in from just about anywhere."

In addition to Fredette, the Cougars will need senior guard Jackson Emery to snap out of his slump. Emery has made just 5 of 27 from beyond the arc in the last four games.

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Just like it's been said that every Batman needs a Robin, you could argue that every Jimmer needs a Jackson.

Maybe it's fatigue, maybe it's from the stress that has been piled onto the Cougars this season, but in the end the players are confident they will be able to play at a high level.

"Everyone gets bumps and bruises, everyone gets a little worn out this time of year," said junior forward Noah Hartsock, who is being counted on to give BYU size inside. "I think that's just competitive spirit in every player, every team. They just want to go out and win.

"This is what we train for in the summer. That's why we run so much and lift weights, just so we can be ready for this end of the season."

The Cougars are hoping that tonight won't be the end to their season.

Tipoff is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. inside the Pepsi Center in Denver. You can listen to the game on KSL Newsradio 102.7FM/1160AM. However, due to NCAA restrictions we cannot stream the audio on ksl.com.

to watch a live stream of the game online.

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