March 15, 2009
Audio [mp3]:
Head Coach Turgeon
Players Carter & Sloan
NCAA Bracket PDF Format 
COLLEGE STATION - No. 9-seed Texas A&M will face No. 8 seed Brigham Young in the first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship on Thursday at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia.
Game time is 12:30 p.m. (EST)/11:30 a.m. (CST). The game will be televised nationally by CBS Sports.
The game is a rematch of last year's first-round contest played in Anaheim, Calif., when the teams had identical seeds. The Aggies beat the Cougars, 67-62.
The winner of Thursday's game will advance to Saturday's second-round game to face either No. 1 seed Connecticut or No. 16 seed Chattanooga.
A&M is one of just 16 schools to play in the last four NCAA Tournaments. Before this stretch, A&M had never made consecutive NCAA appearances.
QUOTES
Texas A&M Head Coach Mark Turgeon
On playing BYU in the 1st round for the second year in a row...
"That's really surprising. One, we're just really glad we're in, but to play the same team with the exact same seeds... The NCAA usually doesn't do that so when I saw their name come up I thought that it wasn't us because I thought we were right around the 8-9-10 line. It takes a little bit away from it, I'm sure they felt the same way. We're a different team, we lost 4 of our top 8 players from that team. I know they lost their big kid in the middle. We know who they got, Cummard was a tough guard for us last year, Fredette had a good game against us and Tavernari will be a tough match up for us. He's a Singletary type, not to bring up any bad memories, but he can really shoot it. I didn't think [the NCAA] would have the same first round matchup as last year. They just don't do that. But, that's what it is... it's in a different location, a little further from their home. Philadelphia is a great city. A month ago it didn't look like we'd be in, so to be in as a 9 shows you what we've accomplished down the stretch."
On playing in Philadelphia...
"I was with the Sixers, but in college, no. It's a great city with good restaurants. It should be fun."
On the last several games being "win or go home" games...
"We had a lot of pressure on us down the stretch. It might have been the reason we didn't play as well in Oklahoma City because we felt like we were in and we might have relaxed a little bit. It should help us going in, every game's been big. We've been there before, a lot of our games have played in the NCAA Tournament, so that helps us."
On six Big 12 teams playing in the NCAA Tournament...
"I felt like we deserved six. Especially the way we finished and the way Oklahoma State finished, that was really the difference. For some reason they had Texas in all year, but they played pretty well down the stretch, too. It's good for our league. It's a tough year for the mid-majors, I feel for them. I was there sitting for your name to be called and it wasn't. That's why people leave and come to power conferences. There were a few surprises, but for the most part the six in our league all deserved it."
On Texas A&M's fourth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament and its impact on recruiting...
"We've lost a lot of really good players the last two years. What we've done with this team is develop guys. We weren't really good, honestly, in the beginning of the year and we just got better and guys just kept developing. To keep the streak alive is huge, I'm really happy for Josh, he'll be a trivia question from now on... I'm just really happy for everybody involved. It helps recruiting when you get in the Tournament there's no question. Hopefully we can keep it going after this year. I think guys want to win in college. That's why they choose the perennial powers. If you can make a name for yourself and start being a standard, it helps you. This was a big four weeks for us and our program. We did the same last year, but to get where we are now and get in a Tournament game is going to help us down the road."
On recruiting impact of playing in Philadelphia...
"We'd like to get more regionalized in our recruiting, but we'll do whatever we can. It'd be good to be on the East Coast, I think Philadelphia's a great town and for the guys to see that will be good."
On Josh Carter's ankle...
"I was hoping for him we'd play Friday, but we'll get him in there and practice tomorrow. I didn't want him to come back until he was 100%. I think he'll be really close to 100% tomorrow, but I don't think he'll quite be there. It's all how his ankle reacts to tomorrow's practice. If it reacts well, we'll feel good going into Thursday."
Senior Guard/Forward Josh Carter
On playing BYU in the 1st round for the second year in a row...
"It's kind of crazy how that happened. You'd like to play someone new just to get a new experience, but we know they're a good team... we'll prepare and get ready to play them."
On the possibility of playing UCONN in the second round...
"We're always confident in our team. You play against the best and they're humans just like you are, so you're always confident you're going to win if you're any kind of player. That's why you go to school to compete against the best, and to have the opportunity to do that if we take care of BYU is good."
On recovering from the Texas Tech loss in the Big 12 Tournament...
"The Tech loss was a hard one. It put us in a situation where we did have to worry, and for us to see our name called and know that we're in and know that it's a new season and have a chance to win 6 straight and be national champions it's like a breath of fresh air and we'll be ready and prepared."
On being concerned about making it into the NCAA Tournament...
"We felt pretty comfortable about being called, but you're never 100% until you see your name on the board or unless you win your conference tournament, so we're glad we got called."
On team preparations during the past week...
"We've had practice the past 2 days. I've just been resting my ankle, so I haven't practiced, but I'll start practicing tomorrow and start getting better."
On having extra rest between the Texas Tech loss and BYU game...
"[My ankle's] already starting to feel better. That was the only good part for me, but whenever you play you always want to win and for us to not get the job done there, we're not happy about it."
On being the first Texas A&M player to play in four NCAA Tournaments...
"It feels good. It's your goal whenever you come to college to make it to the Tournament, so to be able to say that I made it every year, it feels good."
On BYU's defensive reaction to last year's game...
"Yeah, they'll be on me better, but everybody does and my team has been doing a good job of setting good screens and finding me and I've been doing a good job of moving, so it will still be the same. We'll be ready for whatever they do."
On the condition of his ankle and overall physical shape...
"I can play on it, but Coach Turgeon wanted me to get as close to 100% as possible so that's what I've been doing, but I can play on it. I bet I'll be pretty winded tomorrow, so I've still got to get back in shape."
On the last several games being "win or go home" games...
"If we didn't get on that 6 game win streak we wouldn't have been called today. We always try to play with a "backs against the wall" type mentality and that's what we're going to continue to do."
On playing in Philadelphia...
"I went there 2 summers ago for the Team USA trials, but that's about it."
Junior Guard Donald Sloan
On playing BYU in the 1st round for the second year in a row...
"It's crazy how it ended up happening like that again, I know BYU is a good team. I watched them all year seeing how we played them last year. I'm friends with [Jonathan] Tavernari, he's a good player. I'm just looking forward to the battle again."
On being confident about playing BYU again this year...
"I think we have confidence against anybody we play... it's not even a question. I do think that our coaches will get us ready, the scout team will get us ready, and we've got to get ourselves ready mentally and by the time Thursday comes we'll be ready to play"
On having confidence going into the NCAA Tournament after the Texas Tech loss...
"We know exactly where we slipped up. Our goal going into the conference tournament was to win it. If not win it, go as far as we can and feel good about ourselves going into the NCAA Tournament. We let down and it was our own fault we had to come into today worrying about our seed, but everything happens for a reason and now that we're back on the right track from the past few days of practice I think we'll go into the NCAA Tournament revived and renewed and having Josh healthy, everything is coming into play together."
On remembering BYU's style of play from last year's game...
"They were very physical, I do remember that. They were relentless on the boards, play with a lot of poise, and execute to the highest level. Our bench production was good and we snuck out of there last year with one. I'm sure this year they're going to remember that game. They're going to be more hungry and it's going to be a battle and we're ready for it."
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