The beauty of putting an undefeated record on the line, particularly in conference play, is the way it naturally heightens the significance and emotion of a game.

The country was treated to an extremely rare mid-major game between two top-10 teams on Wednesday, as San Diego State received the first taint on their record with a 71-58 loss at BYU.

The Aztecs came into the game with a 20-0 record and a No. 4 ranking, while BYU was 20-1 and ranked ninth.

Completely throwing aside the truly outstanding 43 point offensive display put on by Jimmer Fredette (which looked even more dominant live than the 14-for-24 from the floor/10-for-11 from the line looks in the box score), Dave Rose's very good BYU team won the game on the defensive end of the floor.

As noted recently in our San Diego State Scouting Report, zone defenses are capable of neutralizing the athleticism and strength in the paint. BYU utilized a frenetic and suffocating zone defense that made offensive possessions an absolute chore for the Aztecs.

BYU features an underrated defense that excels against jump shooters and in preventing easy transition buckets, but their performance on Wednesday was tangibly heightened by the energy of their home crowd. The way in which the Cougars were flying around the floor on defense is something that simply doesn't happen on the road.

BYU simultaneously was able to clog up the painted area, both against dribble penetration as well as passing lanes out of the high and low post, while also being able to rotate to challenge perimeter shooters. While the Cougars looked to force jump shots outside 15 feet, they were still able to prevent clean looks.

The Aztecs shot just 35.5% from the floor and turned the ball over 12 times.

Even though it was a two-possession game late in the second half, BYU's four or six point lead felt insurmountable because of how exhausted SDSU appeared.

Looking ahead to the rematch next month, BYU won't be buoyed by the home crowd, but Steve Fisher must dictate things on offense and play from the inside and back out in the post and with better ball movement that creates spaces to operate.

These are the areas where SDSU excels and also a vulnerability for BYU.