Anaheim, CA -- (Sports Network) - West Regional first-round action of the NCAA Tournament will take place this evening at the Honda Center when the eighth- seeded BYU Cougars collide with the ninth-seeded Texas A&M Aggies. The victor in this contest will move on to the second round and will face either Mississippi Valley State or top-seeded UCLA.

The Aggies are coming off a successful 24-10 campaign and are making their third consecutive appearance in this event. Last year Texas A&M made it to the Sweet 16 before falling to Memphis, 65-64. Overall, the Aggies are 6-9 in the NCAA Tournament, and have never made it past the Sweet 16 round.

As for the Cougars, they have lost their first round matchup the last five times the team has been invited to this event. Overall, BYU is just 11-25 at the "Big Dance" and have not won a contest since defeating SMU, 80-71 back in 1993. The Cougars posted an impressive 27-7 mark on the season and with a win tonight the Cougars would tie a school record for most victories in a season. The Cougars have won the last two Mountain West Conference regular season titles, but lost to UNLV in the last two MWC Tournaments.

These two schools have only done battle once on the hardwood, and the Cougars came away with a thrilling, 83-81 win over Texas A&M.

The Aggies can pin their success this season on their defensive play, as the squad has limited the opposition to just 61.9 ppg, and a meager 39.3 percent shooting effort from the field. Texas A&M has also done a tremendous job on the glass, outrebounding the opposition by a whopping 7.1 rpg margin. At the other end of the floor, Texas A&M has been mediocre at best, netting 71.5 ppg, while shooting 46.6 percent from the floor. Josh Carter has been the main scoring threat for the Aggies and heads into this matchup averaging 11.9 ppg. Taking care of business in the paint has been Joseph Jones, who is posting 10.4 ppg to go along with 5.1 rpg. Joining Jones in the paint, is DeAndre Jordan, who is pacing the team with 6.2 rpg and 44 blocks, while contributing 8.2 ppg. Donald Sloan has been a tremendous floor general for Texas A&M, and has distributed 115 assists on the season, while also chipping in 9.4 ppg.

The Cougars have also done a tremendous job defensively, and are currently holding the competition to a meager 63.1 ppg. BYU is limiting opponents to a mere 38.6 percent shooting effort from the floor, and an equally poor 29.5 percent showing from long range. BYU has also done a strong job on the glass, outrebounding the opposition by 4.8 rpg. The Cougars have been just as dangerous at the offensive end of the court, averaging 74.1 ppg, while shooting 46.0 percent from the floor. Lee Cummard has done a little bit of everything for BYU, and heads into this matchup averaging 15.8 ppg to go along with 6.4 rpg, 120 assists, 35 blocks and 32 steals. Trent Plaisted has been outstanding in the paint, producing 15.6 ppg to go along with a team-best 7.8 rpg. Jonathan Tavernari is only shooting 39.5 percent from the field, but that has not stopped the guard from chipping in 13.1 ppg to go along with 5.3 rpg.