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Las Vegas • When all is said and done, Dave Rose will quite likely retire as the winningest coach in BYU men's basketball history. The 11-year leader of the Cougars' men's basketball program has already compiled 279 victories, second only to Hall of Famer Stan Watts, who had 371 wins from 1949-1972.

But there's a blemish on Rose's coaching résumé, and he's reminded of it every March, it seems.

None of those wins has come in a conference tournament championship game.

Rose is 0-5 in such events, including losses in the last two West Coast Conference finals to Gonzaga, 75-64 in 2014 and 91-75 last year.

All told, the coach is 13-10 in conference tournament games. Rose's third-seeded Cougars will attempt to boost that percentage on Saturday when they open the 2016 WCC tournament against sixth-seeded Santa Clara at Orleans Arena (2 p.m. MST, BYUtv).

BYU hopes it is the first step toward winning a conference tournament for the first time since 2001, when Steve Cleveland was the coach and the Cougars edged New Mexico 69-65 down the road at the Thomas & Mack Center.

The Cougars (22-9) crushed the Broncos (11-19) twice in the regular season, by scores of 97-61 and 96-62, but conference tournament games are a different animal, Rose has stressed to his guys all week. For instance, last year in a quarterfinal game here, BYU needed Tyler Haws' jumper with 2.5 seconds remaining to beat Santa Clara, 78-76.

"You can't win any tournament without winning the first game, and I think that's the focus," Rose said. "I hope that's the focus of these guys. I know it is the focus of our staff. The most important preparation we can do right now is get ready for a team that we've had good success against. And that makes coaches a little bit anxious, trying to figure out the mindset of your players going into that game."

The Cougars say they will play with more urgency than in past tournaments, because for the first time in years, they know they won't make the NCAA Tournament without earning the automatic bid that goes to the WCC champion.

"Yeah, I am going to be a dragon out there, trying to do anything I can to win," said senior guard Kyle Collinsworth, the WCC Player of the Year. "I want to play in that [NCAA Tournament] so bad, and I know my teammates do, too. No matter what happens, it is not going to be an effort issue. I am going to make sure I get all the guys to bring energy and passion to give ourselves a great chance to win."

The Cougars are 32-28 all-time in conference tournament games, having been in three leagues since 1984. Santa Clara is 27-27, all in the WCC.

"We are starting this game at 0-0," Rose said. "It makes no difference what has happened in the past; we gotta go play this thing, and they have one of the best players in the league, best scorers in the league, on their team."

That would be junior guard Jared Brownridge, who averages 20.3 points per game. Brownridge has struggled a bit against BYU this season — shooting just 10 for 28 from the field and 4 for 13 from 3-point range while saddled with foul trouble in both games. But he had 29 in last year's nail-biter at the Orleans.

"We are expecting their best game. Hopefully, we get ours," Rose said. Three current Cougars played in that game last year: Collinsworth (15 points) and Chase Fischer (6) and Corbin Kaufusi (7). If BYU is going to make a run, Nick Emery and Zac Seljaas will have to contribute, and Kyle Davis — who played in the Mountain West tournament in Las Vegas with Utah State two years ago — will have to get back to his habit of recording double-doubles.

Emery averaged 27 points on 66.7 percent shooting in the two blowouts against SCU in January and February.

Rose believes BYU has the potential to win it all, even if they will probably have to beat co-champions Gonzaga and Saint Mary's on back-to-back nights next week.

"The chemistry of our team, and the togetherness, is really good," he said. "These guys, there is a great vibe in our locker room. Sometimes you get late in the season, and you can tell ... guys are really irritated with each other. But this team gets along."

Can they get that elusive first conference tournament title? After all, 2001 "was a long time ago," Rose said.drew@sltrib.com

Twitter: @drewjay —

BYU vs. Santa Clara

P West Coast Conference Quarterfinals

At Orleans Arena, Las Vegas

Tipoff • Saturday, 2 p.m. MST

TV • BYUtv/TWC/ROOT NW

Radio • 1160 AM, 102.7 FM and Sirius XM 143

Records • BYU 22-9, 13-5; Santa Clara 11-19, 7-11

Series history • BYU leads 26-5

Last meeting • BYU 96, Santa Clara 62 (Feb. 13)

About the Cougars • They enter the WCC tournament as a No. 3 seed after finishing two games behind co-champions Saint Mary's and Gonzaga in the regular-season race. … WCC Player of the Year Kyle Collinsworth is averaging 15.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game. … They are 5-4 all-time in WCC tournament games. … They defeated Santa Clara 78-76 in a quarterfinal game last year.

About the Broncos • They are led in scoring by all-league performer Jared Brownridge (20.3 ppg.) and in rebounding by 6-8 forward Nate Kratch (8.0 rpg.). … Guard KJ Feagin is averaging 11.4 ppg. and made the WCC's All-Freshman team. … They have never defeated BYU in a WCC game, going 0-11 against the Cougars in that stretch. —

No. 23 Texas tops Oklahoma State

Stillwater, Okla. • Kerwin Roach Jr. scored 15 points, all in the second half, and added six rebounds, as Texas closed the game on a 16-2 run to defeat Oklahoma State 62-50 Friday night in the regular season finale for both.

Isaiah Taylor added 12 points for No. 23 Texas (20-11, 11-7 Big 12), which reached the 20-win plateau for the 16th time in the last 17 seasons.