"In the tournament, every minute is so crucial. You know that's the end of your season if you don't have a good game," Johnsen told the Deseret News in a phone interview this week. "I've been on both ends of the spectrum, where I went to the very last game my freshman year and in my junior year we got eliminated in (a first-round) game against Indiana (in 2002). So I can say I've seen both sides of it. If you make mistakes, it's over."

Utah State's Tony Brown secured a place in Aggie basketball lore in 2001, when he hit an eight-footer in the lane with 1.8 seconds remaining that forced overtime and resulted in a shocking NCAA first-round upset over No. 5 seeded Ohio State. It marked USU's first NCAA Tournament victory in 31 years. And the Aggies, who meet Marquette on Friday morning, haven't won a tournament game since.

Brown, who now works as an assistant superintendent at a Logan golf course, is still revered around Cache Valley for that shot.

"It was pretty special, not only for me, but for the university," he recalls. "A lot of people do still talk about it, seeing as how that was our last (NCAA Tournament) win. Still being in (Logan), I still see a lot of Aggie fans. It's funny because when it does come up, people tell me, 'I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when you hit that shot.' It's special to me."

What makes the tournament special, Durrant says, is the interest it generates around the country.

"When you go out there for practice and you have all kinds of fans and media in the stands for your one-hour practice, you know right off that this is very different from the regular season. You feel a lot of pressure. It can be overwhelming, especially when you play against a 'name' team, not to be awed by them, but just to go out and play. … Half the battle is believing you can beat those teams."

Durrant and his teammates believed they could knock off Clemson in 1990, and they nearly did. The Cougars led the Tigers by seven points with less than four minutes remaining. With seven seconds left, and BYU trailing by one, Haws received an alley-oop pass from Durrant, but Haws' potential game-winning layup fell off the rim.

"We had practiced the play all year long and had never run it. It was a pretty complicated play," Durrant recalls. "I had been in foul trouble for much of the game but I got sent back in to run this play. I lobbed it up there and it was a pretty good pass but it was a tough pass to handle on the run, going away from the ball. Marty's layup just rolled off the front of the rim. It's hard to even think about that, how close we were. We should have won that game."

Clemson's win over BYU was later vacated by the NCAA due to major rules violations by the Tigers. Not that it's any consolation for the Cougars.

Durrant tasted tournament success three years later when BYU defeated Southern Methodist in the first round in 1993. The Cougars have lost six straight first-round games since then.

What advice does Durrant have for the current BYU squad?