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BYU GAME #33 FAST FACTS
BYU Cougars (25-7, 12-4 MWC)
vs.
Texas A&M (23-9, 9-7 Big 12) Thursday, March 19, 2009
Wachovia Center (21,600)
Philadelphia
10:30 a.m. MST
Coaches
BYU, Dave Rose (97-33 in fourth season; same overall) Texas A&M, Mark Turgeon (48-20 in second season; 201-139 in 11 years overall) SeriesTied, 1-1, BYU won 83-81 in 1972 and Texas A&M won 67-62 in 2008, both on neutral floors
TV
CBS
Radio
KSL Newsradio (102.7 FM/1160 AM) and the Cougar Sports Network (11:30 a.m. EST pregame show — Greg Wrubell, play-by-play; Mark Durrant, game analysis)
NOTE: Due to exclusive agreements between the NCAA and CBS, ksl.com is not allowed to stream audio for any of the 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship. Online streaming of all NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship games will be available at www.ncaasports.com
BYU vs. Texas A&M In NCAA Tournament
BYU men's basketball has received an at-large invitation to the 2009 NCAA Tournament and will face Texas A&M on Thursday, March 19, at 12:30 p.m. EST in the West Region at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia. Thursday's game is a rematch of last season's first round game when the Aggies of the Big 12 defeated the Cougars 67-62 in Anaheim, Calif. BYU is the No. 8 seed for the third-straight season and will be looking for its first NCAA Tournament victory since 1993. The Cougars advanced to the semifinals of the MWC tournament before falling to San Diego State while Texas A&M fell to Texas Tech in the first round of the Big 12 tournament. Thursday's game will be televised live on CBS while the radio broadcast can be heard live on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM and 1160 AM out of Salt Lake City beginning with the pregame show at 11:30 a.m. EST (9:30 a.m. MST).
Up Next
The winner of the No. 8 BYU - No. 9 Texas A&M game will advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and face the winner of the No. 1 Connecticut - No. 16 Chattanooga game on Saturday, March 21, in Philadelphia.
Cougar Quick Hits
— With a 12-4 record in MWC, play BYU earned a share of the 2009 conference championship, becoming the first team in the history of the league to win three-straight conference titles.
— BYU won its league-high fifth MWC regular season title with its 54-49 home win over Air Force on March 7. The Cougars share the 2009 title with New Mexico and Utah. BYU also shared the title in 2001 and 2003 and took the title outright in 2007 and 2008.
— With a 9-1 finish to the 2008-09 regular season BYU has now finished at least 9-1 in four years under Dave Rose.
— At 25-7 overall and 12-4 in MWC play BYU is 51-13 (.797) in conference play under Coach Dave Rose. His .797 winning percentage is best all-time in the MWC. Rose is now 97-33 (.746) overall in four seasons, giving him the best winning percentage for a BYU coach through four seasons. Rose has led BYU to four-straight 20-win seasons including 20-9 and a trip to the NIT in his first season. In his second campaign he guided the Cougars to the outright MWC title, a top-25 ranking, a trip to the NCAA Tournament and a 25-9 overall record. Last season he led BYU to a 27-8 overall record, a second-straight outright league title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Rose was named MWC coach of the year in 2006 and 2007.
— Lee Cummard and Jimmer Fredette were named first-team All-MWC while Jonathan Tavernari received third-team recognition. Jackson Emery was named to the All-Defensive Team. Cummard is a repeat first-team honoree and Tavernari is a repeat third-team honoree. Cummard and Fredette have also earned all-district honors. Last season Cummard was the MWC Co-Player of the Year and an honorable mention All-American.
Cougars in the NCAA
— This is BYU's 24th NCAA Tournament appearance. The Cougars advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season as a No. 8 seed, losing 67-62 in the first round to Texas A&M at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. BYU is in the tournament for the third-straight season. In 2007 BYU, the No. 8 seed, lost 79-77 to Xavier in Lexington, Ky.
— The Cougars have an 11-26 record in the NCAA Tournament.
— This will be BYU's first NCAA Tournament appearance in Philadelphia.
— BYU has gone to the NCAA Tournament six out of the last nine seasons (2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2009). BYU has earned a postseason tournament invite in nine of the last 10 years (NIT in 2000, 2002, 2006).
— Since seedings were started, BYU has been seeded as high as a No. 3 seed in 1980. BYU was a No. 4 seed in 1988. Other single-digit seeds included being a No. 5 seed in 1979, a No. 6 seed in 1981 (the year it advanced to the Elite Eight), a No. 7 seed in 1993 (the last year BYU was ranked during the season prior to this year), and No. 8 seeds in 1984, 1995, 2007, 2008 and 2009. BYU has been a No. 12 seed in 2001, 2003 and 2004.
— BYU has lost in the first round in its last six NCAA appearances. BYU's last NCAA win was in 1993 as a No. 7 seed in Chicago when the Cougars defeated SMU, 80-71. BYU lost to No. 2-seed Kansas, 90-76, in the second round that year.
— BYU is 7-16 in its opening round games in NCAA Tournament play.
— The last time BYU advanced out of the second round was in 1981 when the Cougars (as a No. 6 seed), defeated Princeton, 60-51 before upsetting No. 3-seed UCLA 78-55. BYU went on to defeat No. 2-seed Notre Dame on Danny Ainge's last-second, length-of-the-court dash, 51-50, to advance to the Regional Finals before losing to Ralph Sampson and No. 1-seed Virginia, 74-60.
— Current Cougar head coach Dave Rose is 0-2 all-time in NCAA Tournament play with last year's 67-62 loss to Texas A&M and a 79-77 loss to Xavier in 2007. Legendary BYU coach Stan Watts has the most NCAA Tournament with a 4-10 record in seven appearances followed by Frank Arnold (3-3 in three appearances), Ladell Andersen (2-3 in three appearances), Roger Reid (2-5 in five appearances) and Steve Cleveland (0-3 in three appearances).
— BYU head coach Dave Rose played in the NCAA Championship game for Houston's "Phi Slamma Jamma" team that lost to North Carolina State at the final buzzer in 1983. BYU assistant coach Dave Rice was a member of UNLV's 1990 National Championship and 1991 Final Four teams that won a school record 45 consecutive games.
Looking at Texas A&M
Texas A&M enters the NCAA Tournament as the No. 9 seed in the West Region. The Aggies are 23-9 on the season and finished 9-7 in the Big 12, for a four-way tie for fourth with Oklahoma State, Texas and Kansas State. The Aggies were upset in the first round of the Big 12 tournament by Texas Tech. They are one of six Big 12 teams to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Texas A&M starts four juniors and one senior. Three starters return from last season's squad that defeated BYU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Bryan Davis, Josh Carter and Donald Sloan. Carter leads the team in scoring at 14.1 points per game while adding 4.5 boards per game while hitting 40.9 percent from downtown. He leads the team with 74 threes. Sloan (11.7), Davis (10.4) and Chinemelu (10.1) also average double figures for the Aggies. Eminu leads the team in rebounding at 7.4 rpg while Davis is second at 6.4 per game. Eminu is also the team's leading shot blocker with 50 while Davis has 40. Sloan leads the squad in assists per game at 3.0 per game. B.J. Holmes comes off the bench to average 8.8 points per game. He shoots a team-best .425 from long range. As a team Texas A&M averages 71.7 points per game while shooting .446 from the field. The Aggies yield 66.3 points per game while allowing their opponents to shoot .431 from the field. Texas A&M averages 25.6 free throw attempts per game, nine more per game than their opponents. The Aggies also dominate the glass, out-rebounding their opponents by 5.3 per game. Texas A&M is coached by Mark Turgeon (48-20 in his second season; 201-139 in 11 years overall), who has led the Aggies to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances.
Texas A&M's Last Outing — Aggies Can't Hold Off Red Raider Rally, Fall 88-83
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)--Mike Singletary single-handedly led the biggest comeback in Big 12 tournament history, scoring all 29 of Texas Tech's points during a second-half surge that pushed the Red Raiders to a 88-83 win against Texas A&M on Wednesday night. Singletary finished with 43 points to break the tournament scoring record of 38 set by Iowa State's Marcus Fizer in 2000 against Baylor. The last basket in Singletary's amazing stretch was a driving layup past Bryan Davis that put the Red Raiders (17-15) up 79-78 with 39.4 seconds left and erased the last part of a 21-point deficit. Alan Voskuil and John Roberson followed that with a pair of free throws apiece to push the lead to five. Donald Sloan led the Aggies (23-9) with 22 points and Josh Carter added 15. Davis opened the second half with a pair of free throws to put A&M ahead 50-29. Darko Cohadarevic hit back-to-back baskets to get Tech's offense off to a better start than the first half, when the Red Raiders missed their first 10 shots to fall into a 15-2 hole. But the rally really got started once Singletary--who didn't even start the game--got rolling. He converted Michael Prince's steal into a right-handed jam that cut the deficit to 56-44 with 13:02 remaining and soon after added a driving layup that got Tech back within single digits for the first time since the opening drought. He had a personal 7-0 run that got the lead down to 65-59 on a 3-pointer from the right wing with 6:08 left, and he had a chance to tie it at 67 before missing a free throw on the back end of a bonus situation. The Red Raiders kept going back to him, though, and he finally tied the score at 75 on a 3-pointer from right in front of the bench with 1:36. That brought his teammates to their feet immediately, and it wasn't long before they had the lead to celebrate, too.
Series Notes
Thursday's NCAA Tournament matchup will be the third meeting between BYU and Texas A&M and the second in two years. Last season Texas A&M defeated BYU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Cougars were the eight seed and the Aggies were the nine seed. Texas A&M won 67-62 in Anaheim. BYU won the first meeting, 83-81, in 1972.
