BYU to host four games as part of Men Against Breast Cancer Cougar Cup

Winchester, Virginia – BYU men’s basketball will play four games this season as part of the Men Against Breast Cancer Cougar Cup.

The Cougars’ home games against Northwestern State, Alabama A&M, Rice and Houston are part of the MABC Cougar Cup. The matchup with Houston will be the final game of the event and the 2018 Cougar Cup championship will be awarded to the team with the most wins during the tournament, with head-to-head and point-differential serving as tie-breakers. The games will take place between Nov. 10 and 24.

Schedule

November 10
Alabama A&M at Houston

November 12
Alabama A&M at Rice

November 13
Northwestern State at BYU

November 14
Rice at Houston

November 17
Northwestern State at Rice
Alabama A&M at BYU

November 19
Northwestern State at Houston

November 21
Rice at BYU

November 23
Alabama A&M at Northwestern State

November 24
Houston at BYU

BYU Cougars – Dave Rose (West Coast Conference)
Dave Rose is first all-time in winning percentage (72.9) and second in wins in BYU history with 329. Rose is also seventh among active NCAA Division I head coaches in career win percentage. The 2017-18 Cougars finished with 24 wins, an NIT berth and extended their steak to 13-straight 20-win seasons with a postseason bid. The 2018-19 BYU squad features 10 letterwinners, six players with starting experience and three who have earned All-WCC First or Second Team honors. A Houston native and alum of the University of Houston, Rose was a co-captain of possibly the greatest Houston Cougar team in history that featured Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler. Rose and BYU will return the favor next season and play at Houston for another all-Cougar matchup.

Houston Cougars – Kelvin Sampson (American Athletic Conference)
Fresh off a 27-win season and the Cougars’ first NCAA Tournament win since 1984, Houston Head Coach Kelvin Sampson was awarded two Coach of the Year distinctions from the American Athletic Conference and National Association of Basketball Coaches District 25. Sampson is one of only 14 coaches to lead four or more different schools to the NCAA tournament with Houston's win total in 2017-18 tying for sixth most in school history. Unbeaten at home with a perfect 15-0 record a year ago, the Cougars’ tremendous home court advantage will be put to the test with three home games in the MABC Cougar Cup before a trip to BYU to open the 2018-19 season. After one final home game at HP&E Arena, Houston will begin play inside the $60-million Fertitta Center vs. Oregon on Dec. 1.

Rice Owls – Scott Pera (Conference USA)
Now entering season two as head coach for Rice, Scott Pera began his collegiate coaching career back in the 1992-93 season as an assistant coach at Elizabethtown College, only a stone’s throw from his alma mater, Penn State Harrisburg. Pera’s decorated prep coaching career took shape with a Pennsylvania state title while at Annville-Cleona High School in 1999. Then Pera coached future NBA MVP James Harden to a California state title at Artesia High School in 2006, one of two won by Pera at Artesia. As a collegiate assistant coach for 11 seasons, Pera worked first at Arizona State under Herb Sendek, then more recently at Penn and Rice, before his promotion to head coach. Now, as part of the MABC Cougar Cup, Coach Pera will rekindle Rice’s crosstown rivalry with Houston this November for the first time in four seasons.

Northwestern State Demons – Mike McConathy (Southland Conference)
Mike McConathy has etched his place in Louisiana sports history as a player and coach, part of a family basketball legacy at Northwestern State where his father, uncles and sons have played. Back in his playing days while at Louisiana Tech, Mike scored 2,033 points, took home a Southland Player of the Year award and helped the team to a conference championship in 1976. Fast forward to today, as a head coach, McConathy begins his 20th season at Northwestern State, where he’s made three NCAA Tournament appearances, with two wins in March Madness, highlighted by an improbable 64-63 victory over No. 3 seed Iowa in 2006. Including 16 years of coaching Bossier Parish Community College prior to NSU, McConathy has racked up over 630 career victories and is the winningest college coach in Louisiana history.

Alabama A&M Bulldogs – Dylan Howard (Southwestern Athletic Conference)
Fort Wayne, Indiana, native and veteran coach Dylan Howard has been given the reins at Alabama A&M, named interim head coach for the 2018-19 seasons. Prior to this past season spent with the Bulldogs as associate head coach, Howard held the same position at Morehead State for five years, with a stop at D-III North Park in between. Morehead had routine success during Dylan’s tenure there with multiple 20-win seasons. No stranger to the Southwest Athletic Conference, prior to Morehead, Howard worked for three seasons at Mississippi Valley State as an assistant coach. Before becoming a coach, Howard thrived as a student-athlete in the state of Alabama, making two NCAA tournament appearances while at UAB in 1986 and 1987, along with an NIT Final Four run in 1989.

About MABC
Men Against Breast Cancer (MABC) is the first and only national 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization designed to provide targeted support services that educate and empower men to be effective caregivers when cancer strikes. Since our founding in 1999, MABC has mobilized men across America, including under-served populations, to be active participants in the fight against breast cancer. Our philosophy is to leverage the support of the whole family to help the patient, with special emphasis on the important role of men in caring for the women they love.

Never before has any organization taken such a unique and integrative approach through the implementation of proven programs to educate men on their important responsibilities as caregivers.  To develop these tools we continue to work in partnership with a variety of groups such as internationally recognized medical experts who specialize in the psycho-social aspects of coping with cancer, leading medical facilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, state and local governments, and corporate partners. Learn more at menagainstbreastcancer.org.

About Russ Potts Productions, Inc.
“Men Against Breast Cancer Cougar Cup” is organized by Russ Potts Productions, Inc. (RPPI) as part of RPPI’s “Campus Cup Series”. RPPI has organized over 850 major college and professional sporting events over 35 plus years in the industry. RPPI is led by Founder and President Russ Potts.  Russ has been a pioneer in sports marketing since his time at the University of Maryland (his alma mater), then becoming Director of Athletics at Southern Methodist University (SMU). Russ also served as Vice President of the Chicago White Sox before becoming a four-term State Senator in Virginia.
RPPI’s sports marketing and event organization arm is currently managed by Senior Vice President Zach Franz, and Director of Business Development Adam Syprzak. In addition to sports marketing, promotion, and event organization, RPPI also provides business development, consulting, fundraising, and corporate sponsorship services.