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PROVO, Utah (March 15, 2009) - The No. 25 BYU men's basketball team has received an at-large invitation to the 2009 NCAA Tournament and will play Texas A&M of the Big 12 Conference in first-round action on Thursday in Philadelphia, Pa., at the Wachovia Center.
"It's a great opportunity for us to make it to the NCAA Tournament," said BYU head coach Dave Rose. "It doesn't matter who you play because every team is going to be good. We're fortunate to find ourselves in a good spot."
The Cougars (25-7) are the No. 8 seed for the third-straight year and are playing in the West Region. In a rematch of last year's first round matchup BYU will face the No. 9 seed Texas A&M Aggies (23-9). The winner of the BYU-Texas A&M game will advance to the second round to face the winner of No. 1 seed Connecticut and No. 16 seed Chattanooga on Saturday.
Texas A&M finished the season 23-8 and placed fourth in the Big XII with a 9-7 record. The Aggies lost to Texas Tech in the first round of the conference tournament. Junior guard Josh Carter paces Texas A&M with 14.1 points per game followed by junior guard Donald Sloan at 11.7 ppg. BYU has a 1-1 record all-time against the Aggies with an 83-81 victory on Dec. 28, 1972 at the All-College Tournament and a 67-62 loss in the first round of the 2008 NCAA tournament.
BYU shared the Mountain West Conference regular-season title this year with a 12-4 record, its third-straight league crown. Fourth-year head coach Rose has led his team to four consecutive 20-win seasons and has had the Cougars nationally ranked in the last three seasons. BYU is led by All-MWC honorees Lee Cummard, Jimmer Fredette and Jonathan Tavernari. Cummard, paces BYU with 16.8 ppg on 52.0 percent shooting from the field while Fredette adds 16.2 ppg and Tavernari adds 15.9 ppg.
This will be BYU's 24th NCAA Tournament appearance, third in the last three years and sixth in the last nine years (2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009). The Cougars were also a No. 8 seed last year. The Cougars have an 11-26 record in the NCAA Tournament and a 1-3 mark as a No. 8 seed (1984, 1995, 2007, 2008). BYU is in search of its first NCAA Tournament victory since the 1992-93 season when the Cougars defeated SMU 80-71 on March 18, 1993.
