Center Luke Nevill said he was disappointed that rival Brigham Young lost to Wake Forest the other night to see their 53-game home winning streak snapped -- but not because he's some closet Cougar fan or anything.

"We would have liked to break the streak," he said with a smile.

Coach Jim Boylen, meanwhile, was highly complimentary of the Cougars. "I just give them credit for scheduling that game," he said. "I'm sure they're disappointed their streak ended, but what they did for the league to play that game, I think it's an awesome statement. ... They might not have won, but I think it will make their team better and tougher and they'll learn from it and grow."

Boylen added that there's "no shame" in losing to the No. 6 team in the country, and said the game was "very similar to some of our losses. If the shots go down, it's a totally different story." He also said that several fellow coaches in the Mountain West Conference -- notably San Diego State's Steve Fisher, Colorado State's Tim Miles and even Wyoming's Heath Schroyer -- expressed similar sentiments about his willingness to play Gonzaga.

"I got calls from half the guys in our league after we beat Gonzaga," Boylen recalled. "Steve Fisher was a great one. 'That's what we have to do in our league to be a three or four-bid league. We have to play the higher-ranked teams, the BCS teams, and we have to beat them, for our league to take the next step.' And I got a lot of support from the guys in the league. ... I think we should have a four-bid league, I really do. Hopefully we can all build to that."