BYU head coach Dave Rose will be the first to say tonight's game against Western Oregon comes at an awkward time.

"I would have preferred to have played it when it was scheduled," Rose said of the 7:30 p.m. tipoff at the Marriott Center. "That's why it was scheduled then."

But the Cougars didn't want to lose a home game, which had originally been scheduled for Dec. 23. The Division-II outfit couldn't make it to Provo because of weather, and it agreed to come now.

Rose said he anticipates structuring his lineups and rotations differently, scoreboard willing, as BYU (11-2) has one more game before Mountain West Conference play begins Saturday at Colorado State.

"I think so. A lot has happened with our team in that two-week period," Rose said. "There are some depth issues with our team that I think we really need to address, and hopefully we can get ourselves in a situation where we can play some guys in some spots that they are not used to. But this Western Oregon team can really score the ball. Our main focus will be the fact that we played a lot of zone the other night against Wake Forest, which is not our primary defense. We can get back out on the court and put in a defensive game plan and then execute it against a good offensive team."

BYU is coming off its second loss of the year, Saturday against Wake Forest. The Cougars fell 94-87 to the No. 6-ranked team, snapping a 53-game home-court winning streak that had been tops nationally.

Rose mentioned Monday on the MWC's weekly teleconference that his team committed the most fouls of any one of his games in three-plus years as the Cougar head coach: 28.

Rose's squad struggled with myriad foul trouble all evening, most notably leading scorer Lee Cummard and both centers. Five of those total fouls, however, came in the final 44 seconds as the Cougars tried to cut into what was then a three-point deficit.

WOU (6-4) has five players who average double digits in scoring, led by 6-foot-8 senior forward Travis Kuhns (17.9 ppg).

It will be a chance, if nothing else, for BYU to get some positive mojo heading into the 16-game MWC slate.

WOU, meanwhile, is stepping into the same situation as if the game had been played right before Christmas -- the Cougars were also coming off a loss then, a last-second defeat at Arizona State on Dec. 20.

"This game we play on Tuesday (against WOU) will be good to get us back on the court, and we are looking forward to getting (MWC play) started on Saturday at Colorado State," Rose said. "We will get ready for Colorado State on Wednesday."

BYU (11-2) vs. Western Oregon (6-4)

7:30 p.m., Marriott Center

Radio: KSL 1160 AM (102.7 FM)

TV: None

Tip-ins: WOU has lost 2 of its last 3 games, including a 77-67 defeat at Pepperdine on Saturday (a team BYU defeated on the road in November) ...6-8 senior F Travis Kuhns (17.9 ppg) paces a team that has five double-digit average scorers. ...WOU coach Craig Stanger is a 1992 BYU graduate. ...BYU is coming off its second loss of the season Saturday, against No. 6 Wake Forest, that snapped a 53-game home winning streak.