Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA -- Bryan Davis drove to the basket, drew a foul and tossed the ball up over his head with his back to the net.
Like most of his higher-percentage shots, it went in.
With Davis leading the way, Texas A&M beat Brigham Young 79-66 in the first round of the West Regional on Thursday.
Davis scored a season-high 21 points. Donald Sloan had 14, and the ninth-seeded Aggies handed the Cougars their seventh straight opening-round loss in an NCAA Tournament rematch from last year. Both teams drew the same seeds last March when A&M won 67-62.
This time around, Davis played a big role in getting A&M (24-9) to the second round.
"He had it going," A&M head coach Mark Turgeon said. "I told him to play with energy and play with poise. He made a couple shots today, I think his eyes were closed."
The Aggies will meet top-seeded Connecticut on Saturday. The Huskies (28-4) routed Chattanooga 103-47.
Jimmer Fredette scored 18 and Lee Cummard added 17 for BYU (25-8).
"I think we had too much energy and rushed offensively," Cummard said. "Defensively, we knew what they were doing but we gave them too much room."
Looking for its first tournament victory since 1993, BYU came out flat. An outstanding perimeter-shooting team during the season, the Cougars couldn't make a shot early.
Meanwhile, the Aggies couldn't miss. A&M made its first 10 shots and built a 22-7 lead less than eight minutes in. Davis had eight of those 22 on three mid-range jumpers and a reverse layup.
"We had an advantage down low and we wanted to play inside-and-out," Davis said.
The Cougars missed six straight shots after Jackson Emery started the game with a 3-pointer. They were 3-for-15 at one point, and finished 23-for-59 (39 percent), far below their season average of 48.7 percent.
BYU trailed 26-8 when coach Dave Rose called a timeout before the midpoint of the first half. Whatever he said worked. Jonathan Tavernari and Cummard hit consecutive 3s, sparking a 16-6 run that pulled the Cougars within 32-24.
But the Aggies quickly answered with a run of their own. B.J. Holmes nailed a pair of 3s to make it 40-27 and A&M took a 42-30 lead into halftime.
"It makes it really tough. It's almost like an irreversible momentum," BYU's Chris Miles said of A&M's strong start. "It seemed like it was 15 points the whole game. They were hitting everything including some tough shots."
BYU cut the deficit to single digits only once in the second half after Fredette's driving layup capped off a mini 6-0 run to make it 47-38. The Cougars had a chance to get closer but missed a pair of 3s.
"I felt if we could get one of those shots, it might be different," Rose said.
The Aggies then pulled away with seven straight points. Nathan Walkup had two layups sandwiched around Josh Carter's 3-pointer to make it 54-38.
An alley-oop slam by Derrick Roland off a pass from Dash Harris extended the lead to 60-44. BYU never got closer than 11 the rest of the way.
Carter, the Aggies' leading scorer, wasn't a factor in the first half when he scored only two of his 10 points. Carter's teammates, especially Davis, had no trouble picking up the slack. Five players scored in double figures.
"They played zone and they were shadowing me," Carter said. "My teammates were getting good looks and knocking them down."
A&M now heads to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive year. The four straight appearances already are a school record.
The Aggies were only 3-7 in the Big 12 a month ago and seemed unlikely to get an NCAA bid. But A&M won six in a row to end the regular season, before losing to Texas Tech in the conference tournament.
For BYU, it's another disappointing end to a strong season. The Cougars have won 20 games four straight years under Rose after going 9-21 in 2004-05. But they haven't had any postseason success.
"I didn't want to say this before the game, but I felt there was more pressure on them because they've never won," Turgeon said. "We've won some Tournament games, so we were more relaxed. That was a lot of pressure on those kids."
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Posted by: Sniffy from Snook ums On: 3/24/2009
Comment Title: face it Aggies!
Miller is correct. Seems the mens team plays like giant killers when they are playing some sorry team like BYU, Prairie View. They are yelling after dunks, beating their chest, staring at opponents, nevertheless, I saw none of that bravado or intensity during the UCON game. They played like scared chickens.
Posted by: Livin' in the Present On: 3/21/2009
Comment Title:
miller58's first post below turns out to be quite accurate. For those who say we should stay away from the 4 and 5 star players this should serve to expose an excuse rather than a reason (last 5 recruiting classes landed 6 five star and 7 four stars for uconn). Men against boys, coaching against activity organizer, ncaa caliber against intramural players, whiner against humility, basketball against BASKETBALL.
Posted by: miller58 On: 3/21/2009
Comment Title: __________IT'S TOUGH!
My personal opinions:_____"Its tough" when the Aggie Spin Machine does everything to keep the truth from the Ags and the campus._____Have you ever talked to a radio, tv or news reporter covering the Ags, off the record?_____I have!_____Ask if the straight truth is ever deleted, banned, out of context, and Kremlin like control is exersized on their reporting of the p;ain simple Aggie truths.____I love my Ags, but won't lie about even them!_____So "it's tough" if you are acustomed to only AGGIE Spin Machine lies?_____My favorite current Aggie Spin Machine lie is "these coaches are being hired with the emphasis on recruiting"; remember that ridiculous one?_____miller58
Posted by: Muskrat On: 3/20/2009
Comment Title: Miller-Cool it!
Please just chill out. Try supporting A&M for once this decade. Just enjoy the game. Don't be so negative all the time.
Posted by: On: 3/20/2009
Comment Title: Miller's flowbee
Apparently miller was too busy counting stars to read the directions on his flowbee. BTOOUC
Posted by: JimBob78 On: 3/20/2009
Comment Title: Whoop!!!
Gig'em Aggies! Good Luck & BTHO UConn
Posted by: On: 3/20/2009
Comment Title: Miller58_Bitter Flowbee Guy
He revealed to us about ten days ago why he is so bitter. He has all the time in the world to unleash his bitterness on this site. You can't out argue him, you can only feel sorry for him. Just don't feed the troll. Sympathy works better for him. Back to substance. Ags have a chance if they keep it low scoring, much like the UCLA game last year. UCLA last year had as good a team if not better team than UCONN this year. Ags are about the same. Let's hope the refs are better if it comes down to it.
Posted by: Pablo On: 3/20/2009
Comment Title: "Differenece Makers" means diddley
The wonderful thing about this time of the year for this fan, is the unexpected. A&M is EXPECTED to lose, but that will not stop me and my buds from meeting up at Dave & Busters to root for our Aggies.. we are fans first!
Posted by: miller58 On: 3/20/2009
Comment Title: __________TURGEON'S LOUSEY RECRUITING?
My personal opinions:_____Big 12 difference makers committed o date are: Rick Barnes 2 five stars; Scott Drew 1 Five star; Bill self 1 four star; Mark Turgeon 0 !_____miller58
Posted by: ATL Aggie On: 3/20/2009
Comment Title:
Miller you are a jerkoff. No one expects A&M to beat UConn. Just let folks enjoy the fact that we proved we were deserving of the tournament bid. Now we'll just take our shot against the best and see where we are. Of course Calhoun recruits better, they've been a basketball school forever. You are such a pompous blowhard.
Posted by: miller58 On: 3/20/2009
Comment Title: _____A&M vs UCONN - QUICKIE ANALYSIS
My personal opinions:_____A&M has signed 6 difference makers in the last 5 years._____UCONN's coach has done a much better job recruiting than Turgeon (who doesn't) and has signed 12 difference makers in the last 5 years._____Give UCONN a huge 12 point advantage on talent alone._____The game is played at a neutral site; but Philly fans appreciate good basketball, and UCONN is among the better dozen or so top teams over the years!_____A&M is seeded #9 (36th) in the bottom half of 65 teams in the ncaa; and considered lucky to even be on the same floor with UCONN!_____Coaching, MARK Turgeon would have trouble even carrying Jim Calhoun's jock, but Calhoun has health problems, and missed the first game this week in the hospital for tests._____Expect this game to be decided in the first 10 minutes._____If A&M can get hot and a 20 point lead, then UCONN will win by only 10._____If A&M as expected, is stopped cold by UCONN's D, then it will be UCONN by 25 or more at the end._____miller58