BYU basketball: Past losses not on Cougars' minds

OKLAHOMA CITY — The BYU Cougars are trying to push it aside and keep the focus on this year's team, but they just can't seem to escape the program's past success, or lack thereof, in the NCAA Tournament.

Reporter after reporter — some from Utah, some from Florida and some from national media outlets — has questioned BYU's coaches and players the past few days on how they plan to finally end the school's eight-game losing streak and deal with the pressure of not winning a first-round game since 1993.

"This is a unique group of guys, and they have worked really hard and have earned this opportunity," BYU coach Dave Rose said. "And they need to feel, you know, the pressure that that brings to this team only, and they don't need to feel anything else."

The Cougars, preparing to face Florida today at the Ford Center in downtown Oklahoma City, are saying the past, if anything, is more motivation than pressure.

"We know that we haven't won here for awhile, but we're a totally different team and this is a totally different time," junior guard Jimmer Fredette said. "So, it's time for us to go out and play hard and execute, and hopefully advance in the tournament."

The word "advance" might be the key point in that statement. Even though it would be a huge step, the Cougars say they're not looking to win just one game.

"We have to focus on what's ahead of us, and that's Florida," junior guard Jackson Emery said. "But it's not our goal to just end the streak. Our goal is to keep going."

Florida, even though the program has won 12 straight tournament games, isn't exactly coming in without a monkey of its own to shed. Many felt the Gators, losing four of their final five games, were fortunate to be invited to the Big Dance. And after winning back-to-back NCAA titles in 2006 and 2007, the Gators missed the tournament the past two years.

"We know that they've lost the last couple of years, but we don't have any tournament wins the last couple of years either," Florida forward Dan Werner said. "You put all that to the side and it's all about this game. When the ball goes up, people aren't thinking about what everyone did the last couple of years. You can't be playing to try to prove people wrong. We just have to worry about ourselves, and the fact is that we are here and we have a great opportunity."

For BYU, the key is getting off to a better start. In the Cougars' tournament losses the past two years to Texas A&M they fell behind big early and were playing catch-up the rest of the way.