Should it be called CEMR? Or maybe a more word-like MERC?

The Cougars, 14-5 (3-1 Mountain West), are approaching a dreadful year at the line. But is that really a problem?

"When we play bad, or things aren't going well, that's not the first thing that comes to mind," said Lee Cummard, BYU's best foul shooter. "There's no excuse for missing a free throw. It's a chance at a free point, but let's say we lose a game -- that's not the first thing that stands out."

The junior, who had made 21 in a row before missing his first attempt in Wednesday's win against San Diego State, has a point about a 65-percent team.

And in the program's history, there's not exactly a correlation between accuracy on free throws and win totals. Last year BYU shot 66 percent and still made the NCAA tournament, though some missed free throws stand out (a conference title loss to UNLV, plus the NCAA first-round exit to Xavier, hinged in part on clanked charities).

One note, though: This is Dave Rose's third season as head coach, and the past two years of free throws have created a downward trend. BYU shot 71.5 percent two seasons ago, 66 last year.

Terry Nashif, a first-year assistant, has the chore of working with players during morning skill-development sessions. Has BYU recruited a different type of player, more geared toward Rose's fast-paced scheme, that is also more prone to missing? Are the Cougars tired, because of this style of play, and that's why they are below the 70-percent range that became a rite during the last decade?

No excuses, Nashif said, except:

"It's just a different atmosphere," said Nashif, who was a consistently good foul shooter in his career at BYU, and said he was in the 80's during high school. "You can shoot as many as you want at an empty Marriott Center at 10 in the morning but it's different at night with people in the stands. It's a different view. Until people have done it, they don't know what it's like."

One more question: Can the Cougars, with pithy foul shooting, survive in a league that is -- their games included -- regularly boiling down to last possessions and overtimes?

They are second to last in the Mountain West Conference overall, and do take that ninth slot when considering only the four league games (3-1), in which they've made 54.5 percent of all attempts.

Yes, center Trent Plaisted's misses are adding up at a rapid pace and he takes the majority of the attempts. But coaches kept him on the floor during the tight final stretch against SDSU. Plaisted missed 3-of-4 attempts with less than three minutes left, but had a pretty spin basket in the mix.

It will undoubtedly be every MWC team's goal to foul him late and make him earn his points, including UNM (16-4, 3-2).

It's obvious Plaisted's getting tired of talking about being a 50-50 maker on the unguarded 15-footer. But his numbers are at least slightly up from last year (49.2), though he has not rekindled the spark that had him making 39 of his first 56 attempts through eight games this season. Coaches continue to look at video in search of ways to turn it around.

They've been pleased with his mechanics, particularly the left-hander's follow-through that he worked on during the offseason. Maybe more importantly, he does not appear to be letting the misses influence the rest of his game -- he had 17 points and 11 rebounds against the Aztecs despite missing more than half his attempts from the line.

After the good opening to the season, a tough loss to Michigan State in Salt Lake City followed where he went 3-for-8 -- and it's been a spiral ever since.

"I remember some crucial free throws I missed in my career and that messes with your mind a little bit," Nashif said. "It's just a deal where the more confident you can get at the line and the more you can think of it as an opportunity, instead of feeling like you have to make every one of them -- and if you miss one, you're letting everyone down. If you can somehow get your mind in a state where you view it as an opportunity to get points for your team, as opposed to having to make them for your team, (otherwise) that's way too much pressure to put on yourself."

Only two games could generally be argued came down to free throws. A 10-point loss against North Carolina over Thanksgiving weekend was more about disparity -- UNC had 30 attempts (making 23) while the Cougars went 6-for-9.

BYU could've put the Aztecs away much earlier than a desperate tying 3-point attempt at the buzzer, if it did better than 12-for-22 (Plaisted was 3-of-8).

Nashif is confident that Plaisted and his teammates aren't trying to avoid the line -- they're still being aggressive.

The free throw is a regular focal point at practice through drills. Also, Rose usually ends practice by lining up players on the baseline and calling on a few to make a shot. Misses result in quick sprints.

"Instead of standing there shooting 20 free throws and then leaving it at that, you actually have to focus in and realize the significance of the moment when you are shooting the free throw," Rose said. "But confidence is the big key."

The extra practice is hardly for a loss. While BYU's overall percentage issues mainly come down to struggling post players, the four starters besides Plaisted are all in the 80-percent range and significantly improved from last year. Cummard is at 88.7, up from 79.4 a year ago.

More minutes for each of the players has helped -- there are three new starters joining Cummard and Plaisted -- as Rose opines that getting in the cauldron is the only way to get accustomed to the heat.

And at least Plaisted might smirk at this: Shooting 70-of-137 right now, the percentage of the one-woman (married) man, is the exact same 51.1 percent that Wilt Chamberlain fired in his legendary NBA career.

BYU (14-5, 3-1) vs. New Mexico (16-4, 3-2)

4 p.m., Marriott Center

Radio: KSL 1160 AM (102.7 FM)

TV: The mtn.

Tip-ins: BYU is also looking to get back on track for regular shooting -- it's hovering around 33 percent the last three games, and 4-of-5. ... New Mexico is led by 6-5 senior guard J.R. Giddens, who leads the Lobos in scoring (13.6 ppg) and rebounding (8.7). ... UNM hasn't won in Provo since 2000, which was BYU's last loss at home before starting a 44-game winning streak. The Cougars are currently at 41, a game behind Memphis -- the No. 1-ranked Tigers play at home today (10 a.m. Utah time) against Gonzaga.

INFO BOX

It's not all bad news for free throw shooting, even though BYU (65 percent) is a the bottom of the Mountain West Conference in accuracy for league games. The five starters -- bottom three listed below are new -- are all better than a year ago. Even Trent Plaisted. Meaning, Plaisted (with the brunt of the attempts) and some young post players are hurting the totals the most. Here's the breakdown:

LAST SEASON THIS SEASON

Trent Plaisted (c) 49.4 51.1 (70-for-137)

Lee Cummard (g-f) 79.4 88.7 (47-for-53)

Jonathan Tavernari (pf) 69.6 84.0 (21-for-25)

Sam Burgess (sg) 66.7 81.8 (27-for-33)

Ben Murdock (pg) 68.2 83.3 (20-for-24)

Note: Freshman reserve guard Jimmer Fredette is at 88.9 percent (16-for-18)

BYU THROUGH THE YEARS

Free throw shooting has typically been a decent aspect of BYU's game over the years, but it's a downward trend since Dave Rose took over two seasons ago, although team success hasn't apparently been hampered:

YEAR RECORD SHOOTING PERCENTAGE

1999-2000 22-11 69.6

2000-01 24-9 78.0

2001-02 18-12 76.0

2002-03 23-9 75.5

2003-04 21-9 72.4

2004-05 9-21 71.9

2005-06 20-9 71.5

2006-07 25-9 66.0

2007-08 14-5 65.0 (260-of-400)