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BYU men's basketball coach Kevin Young (in blue facing the camera) interacts with his team before practice for the NCAA Tournament at Ball Arena in Denver, Colo., on Wednesday, March 19, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Fousseyni Traore (45) jokes with teammates during practice for the NCAA Tournament at Ball Arena in Denver, Colo., on Wednesday, March 19, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU men's basketball coach Kevin Young (left) signs an autograph for a fan at Ball Arena in Denver, Colo., on Wednesday, March 19, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Dallin Hall awaits to participate in a drill during practice for the NCAA Tournament at Ball Arena in Denver, Colo., on Wednesday, March 19, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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DENVER — During the media availability after Sunday’s “NCAA Selection Show,” BYU senior Trevin Knell said, “This year just feels different.”

It had better.

Knell has experienced two other NCAA Tournaments at BYU, in 2021 and 2024. Both of those games were losses to lower-seeded teams (No. 11 UCLA in 2021 and No. 11 Duquesne in 2024).

To be honest, BYU’s NCAA Tournament history since 2011 is pretty miserable. The only win for the program since the 2011 run to the Sweet 16 was in 2012, a 78-72 comeback victory in the First Four.

Since then, 0-5.

Last year was particularly frustrating for BYU fans, who watched the Cougars overachieve in their first season in the Big 12. Common thinking was that the competition in the league would prepare BYU better for the rigors of the NCAA Tournament. Instead, Duquesne pushed the Cougars around and pulled off the upset.

The mood, understandably, in the BYU locker room after last year’s loss was pretty somber.

“It hurts, it just hurts,” Cougar guard Richie Saunders said as emotion choked his voice. “Maybe it was their physicality, as well as the big stage. I see so much personally that I wish I could go back so I could do what I do. I made mistakes I’ve never made before.”

BYU may have underestimated the Dukes, especially their bigs. While Cougar big men Noah Waterman, Aly Khalifa and Fousseyni Traore combined to shoot 5 for 21 (24%) from the field, scored 14 points and had seven rebounds, Duquesne’s big men (Fousseyni Drame, David Dixon, Jacob Necas and Duhan Mahorcic) were 11 of 18 (61%) for 29 points and 19 rebounds.

Cougar guard Spencer Johnson outrebounded all three BYU big men by himself with 16 boards.

BYU is built differently this season. Traore is a senior but the Cougars added Utah transfer Keba Keita and freshman Mihailo Boskovic. Traore is BYU’s low post scorer, Keita is a big body who can rebound, block shots and attack the rim on the lob. Boskovic is a stretch-5, so the Cougars can go a lot of different ways in this matchup.

On Wednesday after practicing in the Ball Center, Saunders said,” It was our first time with this opportunity and we got freaking smacked. We take a few key things right there. We’ve got to come out and be the aggressor. We’ve been around the block now it feels like as a team and a lot of guys have been here in this spot before. We have all the confidence in the world and all the focus of just getting the job done and being the tougher team.”

As for the atmosphere of the NCAA Tournament, it’s all new to first-year Cougar head coach Kevin Young.

“It’s not like the NBA playoffs,” said Young, a long-time assistant coach for the 76ers and Suns. “It’s more like the NBA Finals. That’s just what it feels like where everything is amped up. There’s more media. I’m big on reference points both with our team and even me as I’ve gone through my career, so that’s kind of what it feels like.”

There is plenty of respect for BYU’s first-round opponent, Atlantic 10 champion VCU.

“I think they have a very clear identity of how they want to play,” Young said. “They want to pick you up. They want to get after you. They want to turn you over. They want to offensive rebound. They’ve got multiple guys that hit the glass. For me, they have a clear style of play and ironically, it’s a lot of things that we’ve talked about against some of the better teams in our league, in the Big 12, that have a lot of similarities.”

Based on last year’s Duquesne win and VCU winning 12 of its past 13 games, many experts and fans are picking the Rams to upset BYU.

“It has no effect on us,” Saunders said. “We’re here to play basketball and play our own basketball.”

The winner of the BYU-VCU game will move on to a second round matchup with either No. 3 Wisconsin or No. 14 Montana on Saturday.

Men’s College Basketball

NCAA Tournament First Round

No. 6 BYU (24-9) vs. No. 11 VCU (28-6)

Thursday, 2 p.m. MT

Ball Arena in Denver, Colo.

TV/Streaming: TNT

Radio: KSL 102.7 FM/1160 AM, BYU Radio

Live stats: ncaa.org

The Word: This is the second all-time meeting between BYU and VCU, with the Cougars winning 81-77 at the Kentucky Invitational in 1983. … This is the second straight season BYU is playing the Atlantic 10 champions in the NCAA first round. … Thursday’s game will be VCU’s 20th NCAA Tournament appearance and BYU’s 32nd. … The Cougars are 15-34 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.

Hoping to break a trend

Since winning two games and advancing to the Sweet 16 during Jimmer-Mania in 2011, the BYU men’s basketball program is 1-5 in NCAA Tournament games.

2012

First Four (Dayton, Ohio)

No. 14 BYU 78, No. 14 Iona 72

West Region Second Round (Louisville, Ky.)

No. 3 Marquette 88, No. 14 BYU 68

2014

West Region Second Round (Milwaukee, Wisc.)

No. 7 Oregon 87, No. 10 BYU 68

2015

First Four (Dayton, Ohio)

No. 11 Ole Miss 94, No. 11 BYU 90

2021

East Region First Round (Indianapolis, Ind.)

No. 11 UCLA 73, No. 6 BYU 62

2024

East Region First Round (Omaha, Neb.)

No. 11 Duquesne 71, No. 6 BYU 67

2025

East Region First Round (Denver, Colo.)

No. 11 VCU (28-6) vs. No. 6 BYU (24-9), Thursday