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MANHATTAN — For the first time in 47 years, the BYU Cougars will be playing postseason basketball at Madison Square Garden, a venue head coach Dave Rose calls "the mecca of college basketball, or basketball itself."
BYU meets Baylor on Tuesday night at MSG in the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament, an event the school won in 1951 and again in 1966.
In a Monday press conference at New York City's Marriott Marquis, Rose said "at BYU, the NIT is extremely special."
"The NIT championships in '51 and '66 are always on the minds of our fans," said Rose, "and the history has actually gone through with our team this year, as far as our players understanding the importance of this event."
Baylor is making its second appearance in the NIT final four under head coach Scott Drew, whose team fell in the 2009 title game.
Now in his 10th season in Waco, Drew called the Bears' NIT run four years ago "one of the best experiences that we have had."
"Once we knew we were in the (2013) NIT," Drew said on Monday, "we just wanted to do everything we could to help our team get here so they would have a chance to experience this, because we all know ... how prestigious this tournament is."
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The BYU-Baylor matchup is a rematch from a game played earlier this season, with the Bears winning 79-64 in Waco.
"We're excited about the opportunity tomorrow night; not so excited to play Baylor," said Rose jokingly on Monday. "We played Baylor in December and they kind of handled us pretty well."
"Our guys do know the challenge; we do understand that we're playing a very talented team, a very hot team, a team that's on a roll. Our challenge will be to try to control Pierre Jackson, which we didn't do very well the first time."
Jackson is averaging 19.0 points, 11.7 assists and 9.3 fta/game in the 2013 NIT, and in the earlier meeting with BYU scored 16 points with nine assists and four steals. He leads a Baylor team averaging more than 93 points in the NIT, while BYU has scored more than 86 points per game in its three NIT contests. Rose says the Cougars "have actually played our best basketball of the season" in the NIT.
"If you like up-and-down play, BYU is one of the fastest teams you'll see play," said Drew, "and we try to do the same thing, so (Rose and I) both agreed we're going to use the 24-second shot clock tomorrow, and probably that won't come into effect either. I think everybody will enjoy watching a fast-paced game and a lot of quality players out there."
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It was only a few weeks ago that BYU was losing in its West Coast Conference opener — a third loss in four games to end its season to that point. A long post-tourney wait was rewarded with an NIT berth, and the Cougars have taken full advantage of their second life in the postseason.
Rose says knowing that a trip to New York City was only three wins away both energized the team and acted as a potential distraction.
"We tried to manage this as a staff," said Rose on Monday, "to where guys wouldn't get too excited about playing for the prize, which is to come to Madison Square Garden, and to play in the mecca of college basketball, or basketball itself."
"We tried to have them approach each game as an opportunity to get another game ... and our guys have been so good at embracing the opportunity. I'm proud of them."
Over the weekend, Rose noted that even with the perspective gained in six consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, he couldn't recall being more enthused to be bringing his team to New York City for the postseason.
"I know our guys are excited," said Rose on Monday. "Our staff is excited, and we're just really, really pleased with the opportunity that we have to play here in the final four; hopefully we'll play well."
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The Cougars held a Monday morning practice at the famed New York Athletic Club on Central Park South; the noon-hour press event followed. The team will take part in an NIT-organized dinner and function Monday evening.
BYU's first look at the Garden will come during Tuesday's shoot-around; the arena is hosting a New York Rangers hockey game tonight.
BYU and Baylor will meet Tuesday at 5 p.m. MT, with pregame coverage beginning at 4 on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM/1160 AM and BYU Radio (SiriusXM 143). The game will be televised on ESPN2. The second game of the doubleheader pits Iowa and Maryland.
You can hear the Monday press conference featuring coaches Drew, Rose, Mark Turgeon (Maryland) and Fran McCaffrey (Iowa) in "Cougar Cuts," above left. You can also hear interviews with BYU's Brandon Davies and Brock Zylstra, and Baylor's Pierre Jackson. As a football bonus, pre-Spring Game interviews with Bronco Mendenhall and Robert Anae have also been posted.
You can hear the entire spring game in cuts archived as part of Saturday's "Cougar Tracks."
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Photos: Courtesy Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo
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