But tonight at 8, the Broncos will be visiting the Marriott Center, where the Cougars (8-0) have won 51 consecutive home games.

Boise State (6-1) is riding a five-game winning streak, including victories over Mountain West Conference opponents Wyoming (86-85) and Colorado State (85-76). Boise State is 6-0 at home but lost its only road game, 82-52, at Siena.

"They've beaten two teams from our conference, so they're going to come in here with a lot of confidence," said BYU guard Jackson Emery. "They're a good run-and-gun team."

A member of the Western Athletic Conference, Boise State is playing well under coach Greg Graham, who is in his seventh season at the helm.

"It's a very good team that spreads the floor really well. They're very offensive-minded," said BYU coach Dave Rose. "Greg has done a great job with that program. All the games that we've had over the last couple of years have been very competitive and come down to the last minute or so. It's a team playing with a lot of confidence right now."

The Broncos boast a strong inside presence with forward Mark Sanchez, who leads the team in scoring (17.1), rebounding (8.1) and shooting percentage (59 percent); forward Paul Noonan (11.6 ppg) and center Kurt Cunningham (10.9 ppg). Boise State shoots 49 percent from the floor as a team.

"They have two good low-post players and their guards are really active," Rose said. "They can penetrate and make plays themselves. It's a well-balanced team."

The Cougars have been playing away from Provo for two weeks. BYU is coming off of a 68-63 victory last Saturday over Utah State at EnergySolutions Arena. Prior to that, the Cougars defeated Idaho State and Weber State on the road.

"It's a good thing to get back on our home floor and play the kind of basketball we do at the Marriott Center," Emery said.

Emery was serving a mission when the Cougars lost to Boise State, 73-70, in 2007 and 72-68 in 2006. When Emery was a freshman, in 2005, BYU eked out a 80-77 victory over the Broncos at the Marriott Center.

Emery returned in June and has started every game for the Cougars this season. He's among the team leaders in minutes played (28.5 per game), shooting (60 percent), 3-point shooting (47.6 percent), rebounds (3.5 rpg), assists (30), steals (13) and scoring (8.4 ppg).

"I come out every day and work harder," Emery said. "I've got great teammates who have helped me. It's great when you have teammates who have gone on missions and can give you advice."

Rose is pleased with Emery's performance this season. "I really like his court awareness on both ends of the floor," he said. "He's extremely quick defensively. He can make plays on the ball. He can give a lot of help and still recover to his own man. Offensively, he's done a really good job in his shot selection and being able to space the floor. He's attacked the basket well. He continues to get better."

One area in which Emery is looking to improve is at the free-throw line. In final two minutes of the Utah State game, Emery took four trips to the charity stripe. Each time, he missed the first attempt but drained the second shot.

"I wasn't nervous. I've been in situations like that before, in my freshman year at BYU and in my senior year (at Lone Peak High) in the state semifinals game against Olympus," said Emery. "Down two, 10 seconds left, I knock them down.

"In the Utah State game, the coaches were telling me I was leaning back on my free throws. That may have caused it. Every time I released the ball, I thought it was going in. The key is to make the second one. I did and we got the win."

In practice, Emery has been spending extra time on his foul shots.

"We have a lot of confidence in his ability to shoot free throws," Rose said. "The other night, he would have liked to have made a couple of more, but I like his confidence to get in there, get fouled and go to the line."