Josh Carter scored 26 points, matching his career high, as Texas A&M defeated Brigham Young 67-62 in the West Region's first round on Thursday, handing the Cougars their sixth straight opening-round loss.
Joseph Jones added 10 points and 12 rebounds for the ninth-seeded Aggies, who will face the UCLA-Mississippi Valley State winner on Saturday.
Jonathan Tavernari led BYU with 15 points.
Carter knocked down three 3-pointers in the first six minutes of the game as the Aggies opened up an 11-0 lead.
The Cougars missed their first eight shots and didn't score until Lee Cummard slammed home a missed shot with 13:55 to play in the first half.
The Aggies mainained a 10-point lead, 22-12, until the five miniute mark of the first half.
BYU came back to tied the game at 26 with two minutes left in the first half. The Cougars took their largest lead of the game, 29-26, on a 3-pointer by Jimmer Fredette with 50 seconds left in the half.
Josh Carter hit another three for the Aggies to tie the game, 29-29, at the half
The lead changed seven times in the second half before the Aggies took and kept a close lead from the 7:47 mark.
With two minutes left the game, the Aggies held a slim 2-point lead, 59-57
Donald Sloan made two free throws to give the Aggies a 63-57 lead with 1:13 left in the game. However, the Cougars were not done as Jimmer Fredette's 3-pointer with 59 seconds to play sliced the Aggies' lead to 63-60.
Dominique Kirk sunk a 3-pointer with 28 seconds left gave the Aggies a 66-60 lead, its first comfortable lead since late in the first half.
BYU missed three 3-point attempts as the Aggies wrapped up a 67-62 win in the first round of the NCAA tourney.
BYU set a school record with 278 3-pointers this year. But they made only 7-for-22 (31.8 percent) from beyond the arc while Texas A&M hit 8-for-16 (50 percent).
The Aggies played two days after attending the funeral for guard Donald Sloan's mother, Sandra Sloan, and did not arrive in Los Angeles until 5 am Wednesday due to flight delays out of Dallas. Sloan, a sophomore from Dallas, started and scored eight points with six assists and five rebounds.