The pain never gets any easier to take.

It was one and done again for the Brigham Young men's basketball team in the NCAA Tournament.

For the sixth consecutive time and second straight season, the eighth-seeded Cougars exited without a victory after suffering 67-62 loss to No. 9 Texas A&M in the first round of the West Regional on Thursday night at the Honda Center.

BYU (27-8) hasn't won an NCAA game in 15 years, and the drought will stretch to at least 16 before the Cougars have another possible chance at ending it.

"This was a little bit more painful for me personally because I had a lot bigger role on this team," BYU junior guard Lee Cummard said. "The guys were counting on me to win it this year whereas last year I was in the shadows more. It hurts."

While BYU boarded a charter flight straight back to Provo, Texas A&M (25-10) advanced to play top-seeded UCLA on Saturday in the second round.

The Aggies, who reached the Sweet 16 last season, rode the hot shooting of guard Josh Carter early and rugged inside play late to end BYU's season in familiar fashion.

BYU got off to an inauspicious beginning with its cold shooting from the field. The Cougars started 0-for-9 and trailed 11-0 before hitting their first shot after six minutes had elapsed when Cummard dunked home a rebound.

But BYU managed to claw back, briefly take a lead and head into halftime tied at 29 despite its offensive shortcomings.

The teams went back and forth in a second half that featured four ties and nine lead changes before the Aggies forged ahead 63-57 with 1:13 remaining on two free throws by Donald Sloan.

BYU freshman guard Jimmer Fredette answered with a three-pointer with 59 seconds remaining, but Dominique Kirk sealed the win for the Aggies with a three-pointer with 27 seconds to play.

"Our execution tonight was phenomenal," Texas A&M head coach Mark Turgeon said. "We got the ball right where we wanted, we made plays and against a really good defensive team."

Although the Cougars were worried about A&M's inside game, it was A&M's perimeter players that delivered the biggest daggers, especially Carter.

The A&M junior guard hit five of his six three-pointers in the first half and finished with a season-high 26 points on 10-for-16 shooting.

Senior forward Joseph Jones had 10 points and 12 rebounds for A&M, which shot 54.3 percent and outrebounded BYU 37-25. Seven of A&M's nine offensive rebounds came in the second half.

"They got critical second shots that really helped them, especially in that last three or four-minute period when the game was right there on the line for either team," BYU head coach Dave Rose said. "I mean, they're big, physical players, and at critical times, they made critical plays."

Tavernari led BYU with 15 points on 6-for-15 shooting. Cummard finished with 14 points and Trent Plaisted had 13 points and five rebounds. BYU shot 44.4 percent in both halves.

BYU entered the tournament hoping to end its NCAA slide and earn validation for its program on a national stage.

But there was only more disappointment in the locker room as the players packed their belongings, realizing how close they had come yet again.

"We had a chance to win the game throughout the whole thing," Tavernari said. "I mean, it just came down to they made more plays than we did. Like I said, they're great basketball players. We had a chance to make plays - a bounce or two that went the other way."

rpotkey@sltrib.com

Storylines

* IN BRIEF: BYU loses in the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the sixth straight time in a 67-62 defeat to Texas A&M on Thursday night in the West Regional.

* PLAYER OF THE GAME: Josh Carter. The Texas A&M junior guard finished with a season-high 26 points on 10 of 16 shooting, including 6 of 10 from behind the three-point line. Five of his three-pointers came in the first half, including three in the first six minutes.

* KEY PLAY: Texas A&M guard Dominique Kirk hit a three-pointer with 27 seconds remaining to stretch A&M's lead to six points and seal BYU's fate.

* KEY STAT: 54.3 - Shooting percentage for Texas A&M. The Aggies shot 52.4 percent in the first half and 56 percent in the second half.