KHQ Right Now - News and Weather for Spokane and North Idaho | What Gonzaga Needs To Do To Beat BYU

Gonzaga is looking to avenge a road loss in Provo earlier this year, but more than revenge is on the line when BYU comes to town this week.

The Zags and Cougars tip off Thursday at the The Kennel. Revenge has a part of the contest, but so does a No. 2 seed in the upcoming West Coast Conference tournament. That is because the top two seeds get byes into the semi-finals – something to which Gonzaga has grown accustomed over the years.

"It's very important," said freshman Gary Bell Jr, who is averaging 10 points per game this season. "We don't want to play on Friday, we want to play on Saturday and then the championship game on Monday. "

"We want that bye," explained senior center Rob Sacre. "It is critical, especially being in this tournament because we don't want to play back-to-back. That's tough for any team."

To beat BYU the Zags are going to have to limit the very thing that doomed them in San Francisco over the weekend: turnovers. They had 22 turnovers in the one point loss to the Dons. Those turnovers resulted in 26 points for San Francisco.

For Sacre and the Zags, it's back to the basics.

"[We have to] limit our turnovers," said Sacre. "We just need to tighten up a few screws on some things. But limit our turnovers, that's the biggest key to being successful in this game."

Thursday's game against the Cougars tips off at 8 p.m. on ESPN2.