PHILADELPHIA – The game started in ominous fashion and only got worse.

Texas A&M hit its first 10 shots in a win over Brigham Young in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

This time, the Aggies couldn't handle No. 1-seeded Connecticut's best shot.

Ninth-seeded A&M quickly fell behind 10-0 and never recovered in a 92-66 second-round loss before a sellout crowd of 19,894 Saturday at the Wachovia Center. The Aggies (24-10) didn't get closer than 14 points in the second half.

"We didn't expect that," A&M coach Mark Turgeon said. "We expected to give them a good game, and we expected to win. You know, we came out the first possession and guarded the first ball screen wrong, and I knew something was the matter."

Bryan Davis scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds for A&M, Donald Sloan added 12 points, and freshman David Loubeau chipped in with 11 points.

A&M couldn't contain Connecticut point guard A.J. Price (27 points, eight assists, five rebounds) and forward Jeff Adrien, who had 23 points on 11-of-16 shooting. The Huskies (29-4) shot 57.9 percent (33-of-57) from the field.

"We just couldn't get a stop," Turgeon said. "I think if we just could have put two or three stops together, we could have put a little pressure on them. There was no pressure on them all day. They were up 20 all day."

Were the Aggies nervous?

"I think our guys came out with a few butterflies," Sloan said. "Big game, big stage. We pretty much shot fast and didn't execute to our highest abilities. I don't think guys were intimidated or scared."

They did seem frustrated.

Turgeon tried everything to motivate his team. He took a quick timeout after Connecticut led 4-0. Then he was whistled for a technical foul with 9:58 remaining in the first half.

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Texas A&M's Nathan Walkup (right) is challenged by Connecticut's Jeff Adrien in Saturday's game.

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"Maybe it's UConn, but we looked totally different than we've looked the last month and a half of the season," Turgeon said. "Give them credit. So I was just trying to wake them up and say, 'All right guys, it's 4-0. Start over. One timeout. We'll be OK.' UConn was just too good."

Connecticut won easily without a strong performance by 7-3 center Hasheem Thabeet, who was limited to six points and four rebounds in 20 minutes.

A&M still had an impressive season with 24 victories, tying for the fourth-most in school history. The Aggies also became one of three schools to have won a postseason game in each of the last five years – one NIT and four NCAAs – joining North Carolina and Memphis.

"I think everybody had us penciled in the NIT," Turgeon said. "Obviously, our league's pretty good. Our league's done pretty well. To fight back and do what we did, I'm proud."