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Las Vegas • Sophomore center Brandon Davies traveled with the No. 8 BYU basketball team and is expected to sit on the bench with the Cougars in Thursday's first-round game at the Mountain West Conference men's basketball tournament.

Coach Dave Rose said "that's yet to be determined" when asked whether Davies, who is not being allowed to "represent" the team on the court due to an honor code violation, will travel with the team in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

Davies has not practiced with the team since the school announced his suspension last week, and will not play for the remainder of the season. He remains a BYU student as the school's honor code office reviews his situation, which includes an admission to school officials that he broke the tenet of the honor code that forbids premarital sex.

"Well, I just think it is important [for Davies] to be with his teammates," Rose said Wednesday when asked why Davies is being allowed to sit on the bench. He sat on the bench and was allowed to cut down a piece of the net last Saturday when the 28-3 Cougars defeated Wyoming to clinch a piece of the MWC regular-season title.

Rose became a touch defiant Wednesday, after the Cougars practiced in a gym adjacent to the Thomas and Mack Arena, when he was asked what kind of message he is trying to send by having Davies on the bench.

"There is not a message," he said. "This is about our team. OK? And we decided to bring him because we thought it would be good for both of us."

Having started in 26 of BYU's first 29 games, Davies was BYU's leading rebounder and third-leading scorer before being dismissed March 1, a day before the Cougars suffered a 82-64 loss to New Mexico in Provo.