Steve Cleveland can't find a wrong answer to the equation, which is good for his basketball program. Half of BYU's team suffered through last year's miserable road woes; half did not.

Either way, life away from the Marriott Center is much better now.

	BYU wings Travis Hansen (left) and Mark Bigelow have the Cougars flying high at home and, for a change, on the road.

"It's not like we had to re-evaluate our system," said Cleveland. "We had to confront it, talk about it, get better at it and move on."

Move far away from that 1-11 road record.

The Mountain West Conference is about more than Wyoming and Nevada-Las Vegas this season, and anyone who thinks different hasn't followed BYU's early run. The Cougars are 6-1 to start, but more impressive is that four of the victories have come nowhere near Provo.

BYU went 3-0 at the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands and then held off Arizona State in Tempe, all games it might have lost last season. There was no depth then, no real quality off the bench. The Cougars and their weary travel legs fell at No. 24 Creighton by 10 on Saturday, but the point had already been made.

BYU is for real, home or away.

"Obviously, the experience of learning how to play on the road from last season is now paying off," said Cleveland, in his sixth season and annually one of the nation's more underrated head coaches. "Another issue is the depth. We can now go to our bench and get solid play and good contributions. When people make runs now like (ASU) did in the second half, we answer them. We are able to do the little things down the stretch in close games. That comes from being able to play eight or nine guys."

It's no surprise two of the reasons for such early success are Travis Hansen (16.1 ppg, 5.0 apg) and Mark Bigelow (13.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg), as fine a pair of wings as the Mountain West offers. They make plays when others can't.

Said the senior Hansen of the 64-60 win at ASU: "A game like that is 10-times better for us, having it go down to the wire, having to make stops, having to make free throws, having to make big baskets. That's a real road game. That's like a conference road game right there. But it's only one."

If there are to be several more like it this season, BYU (like most teams this early) needs to clean things up. The Cougars had 23 turnovers at Creighton and the Hansen-Bigelow combo has combined for 40 in six games.

The Cougars are ahead of schedule defensively (junior center Rafael Araujo gives them the rebounder they lacked last season) but there is a question mark at point guard.

Kevin Woodberry is a junior averaging 5.2 points and has just 10 assists to 19 turnovers; Ricky Bower is a junior transfer from Wisconsin who many felt was BYU's best player in practice last year. But he didn't work out the first several weeks of the season and is averaging 5.0 points and 1.4 assists.

Jared Jensen is still himself, which means good things usually happen by finding the 6-9 sophomore center inside. He's shooting 65 percent.

"We still have a long ways to go," said Cleveland. "But now that we have gone on the road and won in a tough place (like ASU), that's something we can refer back to later in the season. We know we can win those kinds of games now. We can be much better offensively."

The reward for already having played five games away from home is five of the next eight at the Marriott Center, which nearly guarantees BYU will enter conference play with 10 or more victories.

Why? The Cougars have won 38 straight at home, the nation's longest current streak.

"Playing that well early on the road really gave us some confidence," said Hansen. "Being home for a while now will give us a chance to practice hard and get back to working on fundamentals. Hopefully, we can get on a nice little roll here."

Games of the Week

Oregon at Pepperdine Saturday Personal and physical setbacks have the Waves at 3-2, but now they get a huge opportunity at home against the No. 5 Ducks. Pepperdine has won three straight by a total of seven points. Oregon is coming off a win against Kansas and plays Cincinnati on Tuesday. Will the Ducks look past the Waves? Wyoming vs. Texas Tech Saturday The Wyoming Shootout will be played in Casper and affords the Cowboys by far their strongest test yet. Wyoming senior center Uche Nsonwu-Amadi is averaging 16.7 points and 14 rebounds, but played in just three of the team's first six games due to an injured knee. Texas Tech (5-0) is winning by an average score of 87-59. Texas at Arizona Sunday Make sure the officials get a good night's rest before tipoff, or they might pass out before halftime. The top-ranked Wildcats and No. 7 Longhorns will no doubt push tempo from the outset, allowing for a promising matchup at point guard between Jason Gardner and T.J. Ford. Fresno State at Oklahoma State Sunday The Cowboys are 5-1 and will put Fresno State's perfect record to a serious test. The Bulldogs lead the WAC in free-throw percentage, which could help in such a tough road game.

Not Looking Back
Riley Wallace says he never understood why others talk about the stress and pressure that accompanies coaching at the Division I level.

"Most of that stuff is self-inflicted," said the 16-year Hawaii coach. "I actually feel a lot less pressure now. I feel better now than I did a year ago."

It's pretty amazing, considering that two-hour brain surgery in September.

When the Warriors play at San Diego State on Saturday, it will mark the first time Wallace has flown since returning home from Las Vegas after doctors removed two subdural hematomas.

Due to a heart condition, Wallace was put on blood thinners a few years ago. The medication led to the hematomas, which are swellings filled with blood.

Wallace knew he was in good hands when told one of his doctors in Las Vegas attended Duke.

"A basketball guy," said Wallace.

Hawaii arrives in San Diego 2-0 and again picked alongside Tulsa as the WAC's best this season. The Warriors will definitely be rested, having played just Tuesday's exhibition against Hawaii Hilo since Nov. 24.

They will also encounter an SDSU team that lost to No. 1 Arizona by just eight and one that is finally at full strength. Arizona transfer wing Travis Hanour is eligible to play beginning Saturday, and joins recent newcomers Evan Burns and Chris Manker (transfer for Oregon State) for the Aztecs (3-3).

Wallace will have little trouble motivating his team to play SDSU, the lone opponent to win on Hawaii's home court last season.

Still, it's just a game, right?

"I hear all those things about life and priorities being put into perspective when you go through something like I did," said Wallace. "But I have never really felt any of that. I was in good hands with the doctors. That's I all I needed to know.

"Sure, you worry some on that first flight (home). You hear about the pressure from flying and wonder if something is going to pop inside your head. You take it easy your first few days of practice. But other than things like that, everything is back to normal."

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