PROVO, Utah, March 17, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — The Cougars are headed to Omaha.
The BYU men’s basketball team was awarded a No. 6 seed Sunday and will open the NCAA Tournament vs. 11th-seeded Duquesne at 10:40 a.m. Thursday in Omaha, Nebraska. The game will be televised by truTV.
“We’re excited to get out to Omaha and play a great game and look forward to making a run in the tournament,” BYU’s Jaxon Robinson said.
It’s the 31st NCAA Tournament appearance for BYU and the second under head coach Mark Pope, now in his fifth season.
“It’s NCAA Tournament time,” Pope said. “Every game is the most challenging game of your lifetime. It’s all great teams, it’s all championship-caliber teams, and so we’re excited to get it going.”
The winner of the matchup between the Cougars (23-10, 10-8 Big 12 Conference) and Dukes (23-11, 10-8 Atlantic 10) will face the winner of third-seeded Illinois (25-8, 14-6 Big 10) No. 14 seed Morehead State (26-8, 14-4 Ohio Valley).
It will be the third meeting between BYU and Duquesne but the first since Dec. 28, 1952. Duquesne won that matchup and the previous meeting in 1947.
The Dukes finished sixth in the Atlantic 10 this season but won the conference tournament Sunday to earn their first trip to the Big Dance in 47 years.
“They’re a great team. They’re the A-10 champs and that’s no easy feat,” said Pope, who called Duquesne an “elite-level defensive team.”
BYU, ranked No. 20 heading into the Big 12 Tournament, lost 81-67 to 25th-ranked Texas Tech in the quarterfinal round.
The Cougars are led by Robinson, the Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year, who averaged 13.9 points per game in BYU’s first season as members of the Big 12. The 6-foot-7 senior from Ada, Oklahoma, previously played at Arkansas (2021-22) and Texas A&M (2020-21).
“The tournament is a whole new season,” Robinson said. “Everybody is starting out 0-0; it doesn’t matter what your record was, as long as you make it in.”
Duquesne is led by senior guard Dae Dae Grant, who averaged 16.3 points and 3.5 assists while shooting 42.6% from the floor in the Atlantic 10 Tournament. Grant was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
