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In a season that featured the BYU hoopsters entering a new conference, a new experience awaits the Cougars as they make their sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
Tuesday night in Dayton, Ohio, the Cougars will play in the second-ever "First Four," a First Round meeting with fellow 14 seed Iona for the right to take that seed into a Second Round game with 3 seed Marquette Thursday in Louisville.
"It's a neat feeling," said senior forward Noah Hartsock on Monday afternoon, "because it's the First Four, and it's still exciting...just being part of the tournament once more."
While procedural considerations resulted in BYU dropping two seed lines from its natural seed of 48, Iona somewhat surprisingly joined the Cougars as a "last four in" colleague; Gaels' head coach Tim Cluess told me today that "in all fairness, we had planned on the NIT...I had my guys turn their attention to it." Now that Iona is in the Field of 68, and facing a BYU team that equaled the Gaels' 25-win tally, Cluess believes basketball fans could see two teams playing above their seed line on Tuesday night.
"I think both teams are very good teams and could play with a lot of teams at a higher level, higher ranking level for this tournament. And it's going to be a very interesting game."
You can hear press conference from BYU's Hartsock and Brandon Davies, head coach Dave Rose, Iona's Cluess and players MoMo Jones, Scott Machado and Mike Glover, by going to "Cougar Cuts," above left.
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The Cougars and Gaels' practiced twice on Tuesday; BYU used its NCAA-designated afternoon time at the University of Dayton Arena then went to a local facility in the evening; Iona practiced at home in New Rochelle, New York before working out at the arena in the afternoon.
Of note for the Cougars, Noah Hartsock practiced and looked good, while Stephen Rogers did not practice, Rose saying Sunday that Rogers suffered a Saturday "setback" in his recovery from recent knee injuries and surgery.
Asked about his leg injuries, Hartsock said Monday that "the leg's feeling pretty good right now. The only thing that's really bothering me is maybe my ankle. The knee's feeling really good..I've been able to practice on it. It feels pretty good right now."
About how having ten days between games might aid his health-hampered squad, Rose says "it's hard to say, because rhythm, feel, repetition I think is something that coaches really rely on as far as how their team's going to play."
"I think that the time off has been good for our players who have needed to heal, and hopefully we'll physically be better prepared...but mentally and how we execute, that will be a question mark for us because of the time. It's been a long time since we played, and hopefully we can get back really comfortable into how we play."
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How BYU plays matches well the Gaels' style, with both teams among the nation's top 15 in scoring and top 25 in tempo. Rose knows in Iona he'll be getting a team that wants to get up and down just as often and aggressively as his guys.
"What we really have to concentrate on is in transition defense, to make them take contested shots," Rose says. "Their point guard (Machado) is as good with the ball as anybody we've ever played...and his teammates are good finishers. They can finish at the rim, they can finish from the 3‑point line. We're playing the leading scoring team in the country with the point guard who has the most assists."
"Transition defense will be a huge factor in this game, and I would bet that (Cluess) would tell you the same thing; that he probably thinks transition defense is a big key for his team, because that's how we both play."
Guard MoMo Jones has been on the losing end of two games with BYU while a player at Arizona; "I remember Jimmer Fredette," he said. "That sticks out like a sore thumb. The rest of it was just kind of a blur." Jones all but bristled at the suggestion the Cougars play at a faster tempo than Iona, although by average possession count, BYU ranks 5th nationally and the Gaels 22nd.
"I don't think they play nearly as fast as we do," said Jones. "I think we still have a speed advantage on them...if we can do what we do every day and just, like I said, maintain the focus at hand, we'll be okay."
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Tuesday's game will tip at 7:00pm MT, with pregame coverage getting underway at 6:00pm on KSL Newsradio.
President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron are scheduled to be in attendance Tuesday night; there were rumblings that the pair may only attend the first of the evening's two games, pitting Western Kentucky and Mississippi Valley State in a meeting of 16 seeds.
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Photo courtesy Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo
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