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PROVO — BYU hasn't had an issue defending its home court, with an unblemished 5-0 record at the Marriott Center in the young season.
But the road has been a different story for the Cougars, who are 0-2 on the road with losses at Long Beach State and at Utah.
With one more chance to pick up a true road win before finishing the non-conference schedule at the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii, BYU (6-2) turns to the icy air of Boulder, Colorado.
The Cougars will tip off against the Buffs (7-1) at 6 p.m. MST Saturday (Pac-12 Network/KSL 1160 AM, 102.7 FM) with an eye on collecting their first true road win of the year against a formidable opponent.
"They're a great team," said senior Chase Fischer, who leads BYU with 16.0 points per game. "It's a big, big test. I think when March comes around, this is a resume builder — it's something that went away from us last year until we got that win at Gonzaga. It's good to get one of those early, and it's going to be a big test for us."
Colorado also has the Cougars' full attention because of history. The Buffs lead the all-time series 16-6, including a 0-10 mark for the Cougars on the road — but the two squads haven't met since 1955.
More recently, Colorado has proven to be one of the top teams in the country. The Buffs are currently ranked No. 49 in the KenPom rankings, which is 12 spots ahead of BYU, and head coach Dave Rose said much of that is because of their defensive specialty.
"It's a really long, athletic and quick team. It's a team that challenges you on the defensive end," Rose said of Colorado. "They will make things really hard on us. We'll have to be good as far as we execute, and rebounding the ball will be a huge key."
The Cougars are coming off arguably their most complete performance of the season with an 80-68 home win over Utah State on Wednesday night. BYU star Kyle Collinsworth has dished out double-figure assists in back-to-back performances and in three of the last four games. The NCAA's all-time leader in triple-doubles averages 9.0 assists per game, on top of 14.5 points and 8.5 rebounds. Fischer is averaging a team-high 23.7 points per game over the past three games, while Utah State transfer Kyle Davis is a walking double-double at 12.8 points and 11.3 rebounds per game.
If the shots fall, it could add up to a shot at a resume-builder just under 500 miles away from home.
"I'm looking forward to that game," Rose said. "Hopefully our guys will respond and play well."
