One-third just isn't going to cut it. Not in the Mountain West Conference, not even at home where BYU won its 41st consecutive game Wednesday by surviving again without what's supposed to be the Cougars' best skill.

A team that got drilled at UNLV last Tuesday by following this tepid formula has now won at Utah and against the first-place Aztecs by finding its toughness and excellence without the ball. It made 34.4 percent of its shots (21-of-61), while forcing the Aztecs to not do much better (21-of-57, 36.8 percent).

Both teams usually shoot around 45 percent.

"I think it's a real tribute to this team, because we got ourselves in some really tough situations without shooting the ball well," BYU coach Dave Rose said of BYU's problems before this current two-game winning streak. "And defensively, we were not playing with the aggressiveness that we needed to. The last couple of games have been a really good sign to our competitive spirit, and a really good sign with our physical and mental toughness."

There is a caveat: Don't think for a second -- or around three, which is the time frame this win also came down to -- that Rose is willing to forego finding the basket.

"We need to start playing better offensively to be the kind of team we want to be," Rose said.

But there's no such thing as a winning result being ugly, Rose slightly smiled about, even if the process could be at times hideous.

This one for BYU (14-5, 3-1 MWC) was eerily similar, and successful, compared to last Saturday against Utah -- don't shoot well, the game stays close and winds into a dramatic final possession for each team.

There were 2.9 seconds on the clock (compared to 3.3 at the Huntsman Center) when BYU had one of its best shooters taking foul shots in an attempt to extend a one-point lead.

Sam Burgess this time got the crucial opportunity. Lee Cummard, who sank them both to help beat the Utes, merely took the high-pressure inbounds pass (the Cougars had no timeouts remaining) then, trapped along the sideline, passed to a fellow co-captain.

Burgess, an 80 percent charity maker, calmly drained both tries.

The Aztecs (14-5, 4-1) relied on a long pass for their game-tying shot, unlike Utah's dribble drive. The 6-foot-8 Ryan Amoroso out-jumped the pack of players, dribbled out to the 3-point line and lifted a valiant attempt considering the circumstances -- but it hit off the back iron as time expired.

"The more experience you have, the better you handle these tough situations," said Trent Plaisted, who exemplified BYU's tough times shooting (7-for-15) but also was the torchbearer of its grit (33 minutes, plus 11 rebounds to go with his 17 points).

Jonathan Tavernari had 10 points on 4-of-14 shooting, while freshman shooting guard Jimmer Fredette was a major factor with 11 points in 23 minutes, which was two shy of his career high for playing time made in the season-opening blowout win at Long Beach State.

"I knew that our team needed a little boost, and luckily teammates hit me with open passes," said Fredette, who made 3-of-6 from 3-point range on a night the Cougars missed 16 of their 21 attempts.

BYU had made just three treys in each of the last two games, but hit that many in the first 11 minutes against SDSU. Then it had a bunch of shots from all over the court go tantalizingly close to through the net, but not quite.

Yes, it was driving the Cougars crazy. "It wears on you a little bit," Cummard confided.

The Aztecs have already won at another tough venue, New Mexico's Pit, and they weren't the least bit intimidated by Provo. They built a 22-13 lead with about 8:30 remaining in the first half.

It was the largest deficit BYU faced at home since January of last year (Wyoming).

"I'm just proud of our players, because you have to figure out ways to compete and win games," Rose said.

The active home-court winning streak trails only No. 1-ranked Memphis, which sits at 42.

BYU started the season 0-4 when scoring less than 70 points but has won the last two. This was the first time the Cougars had trailed at home, at halftime, since Dec. 30, 2006, against Seton Hall.

The most pressing note: Cummard, the go-to guy this season, picked up his fourth foul with 12:37 left. That usually means goodbye, Cougars.

But remember, we're talking a different team here even though Cummard sat until 4:27 remained.

BYU led 50-48 at that point, after trailing by a point when he exited with just one foul left.

"It was a good growing experience," the junior said.

Growing old sounded more like it, toward the end -- another frenzy.

Fredette hit a trey that stretched BYU's lead to six points, and barely missed one that could've pushed the margin to nine. SDSU's athleticism took over as Kyle Spain, who hit some critical shots down the stretch, nailed a short jump shot and Billy White had a dunk. Lorrenzo Wade, the team's star, didn't disappoint with 21 points and eight rebounds, including a 9-of-10 showing at the line.

SDSU wanted the ball in the 6-6 Wade's hands at the end, but BYU played firm defense.

"We had opportunities, we just couldn't quite make that last play," SDSU coach Steve Fisher said.

BYU is getting pretty familiar with last-second plays. Leading by one, it had to play defense as Spain barely missed a jumper and saw the rebound come back to him. But he was stonewalled on his drive, as well. That drive was set up with 33 seconds (and a few tenths) left -- same as against Utah when the Utes had the chance for the go-ahead basket.

After Spain's misses, it's probably best to let Cummard say what happened next, because the pace was so frantic: "Ben (Murdock) got the outlet ... I was going up-court, going to try and finish at the rim. But my steps weren't right, and I bobbled the ball."

But it hit White's foot before going out of bounds. That set up Burgess' free throws, then Amoroso's near-brilliant attempt to force overtime.

BYU's motto these days: It doesn't matter if your team shoots bad, if it can force the other team to not be much better.

"Tonight you just knew you were going to have to be really strong with the ball, really strong when you took it to the basket," Rose said. "That last exchange, it was pretty physical on both ends. ... The game might've been a little bit ugly, but it takes a lot to win a game."

• Plaisted at the line: With about 2 1/2 minutes left, the junior center was still in the game even though he's a liability at the free throw line. He's shooting about 52 percent, but managed to score three points in a minute-long stretch.

He did miss three of his four free throws, but he also had a nice spinning basket.

His misses were getting closer, though, than they've been recently.

"All you can do when you go to the line is shoot with confidence," Plaisted said. "I think of those four free throws I shot at the end of the game, the first one I kind of was a little bit shaken. The second one I shot and I could have swore it was going to go in, and I felt the same way about the next two.

"I was lucky enough to get the first one and I thought the second one was going to go in. But I'm not going to worry about the free throws and all this stuff. I'll continue to practice, continue to work on it. But I've just got to shoot with confidence and that's all I can do."

• Keeping a sense of humor: After every home game win, BYU ushers a player outside the arena to ring the "victory bell."

This time it was Tavernari, who was one of BYU's four double-digit scorers -- BYU is 7-1 when that happens -- but scored 10 points on 4-of-14 shooting (0-of-5 from long range) and played 22 minutes.

"Why do I have to do this? I played like crap," the sophomore joked as he hustled into the cold air.

• Going to the well one too many times?: BYU's survived essentially all three games that came down to an opponent's missed 3-point shot, or final possession -- Louisville, Utah and now SDSU.

"Hopefully we haven't used them all up," Rose said.

• Tip-ins: Correction: Yes, Wade did play last year at SDSU; he sat out two years ago after transferring from Louisville. He averaged 10.5 points and 5.3 rebounds a season ago for the Aztecs. ... BYU senior guard Ben Murdock tied his career best with five rebounds. ...The 34.4 percent shooting accuracy was BYU's worst at home since 30 percent in a 59-58 loss to Wyoming in Feb. of 2005. ... Plaisted (17 points, 11 rebounds) had his fifth double-double this year, 14th career ... Junior SDSU guars Richie Williams was expected to be out until Feb. 1 with an injured wrist, and had missed the past five games, but played last night. The two-year starter saw 16 scoreless minutes but had three rebounds and three turnovers in a reserve role.

• Jason Franchuk can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it