BYU's Fredette Drops 37; Cougars Down Florida In Double-OT, 99-92

Going up against a seemingly underseeded BYU team, few pundits expected Florida to give the Cougars much of a game. And when BYU opened up a 13-point lead late in the second half, those predictions looked prescient.

Two overtimes and one furious Florida rally later, it was clear that the Gators had been underestimated. Indeed, if it hadn't been for a string of turnovers in the second half and two wasted opportunities at the end of regulation and the first overtime, Florida very easily would have been the team preparing to take on Kansas State in the second round, rather than the Cougars. SB Nation's Florida blog, Alligator Army, broke down how it fell apart for Billy Donovan's squad:

The Gators showed their guts, but turnovers and bad possessions did in Florida in their 99-92 double overtime loss to BYU in their NCAA Tournament first round game. Florida had two chances to win, once each in regulation and overtime, but could not convert.

Florida would not have been in position to win had it not been for Kenny Boynton's 27 points and fantastic defense against BYU's Jimmer Fredette. Boynton locked Fredette down, including holding the BYU guard scoreless in the first overtime. Boynton had a chance to win at the end of the first OT, but ran out of time and space and was forced to shoot a wild shot that had no chance of being made or rebounded. Boynton fouled out in the second OT with three assists, two rebounds and five turnovers.

Turnovers was the reason why UF found themselves down 13 points with 9:13 remaining. Florida followed great defensive possessions with Erving Walker throwing the ball out of bounds to start the second half. Chandler Parsons had the nerves get to him as he had five turnovers, including two traveling calls.

BYU earned their first NCAA Tournament win since 1993, thanks largely to Jimmer Fredette and Michael Loyd, who combined for 63 points on 56% shooting for the Cougars on Thursday.

Our BYU blog, Vanquish The Foe, realizes it wasn't the prettiest of wins, but hey, it was a win, and the Cougars are into the second round for the first time in 17 years.

Jimmer, Jimmer, Jimmer.  That wave at the camera?  You either loved it or hated it.  But man what a player.  Between him and Loyd, I'm not sure who was more fun to watch.  Of course, you have come to expect these results from Fredette, but he's just so exciting.  Perhaps it's because you know he's having fun out there as well.  Kudos to Billy Donovan for playing his freshman Boynton on Fredette and sticking to it without many of the double and triple teams we've seen throughout the season.  But the guy is near unguardable at this level.

Florida can blame their loss on Boynton fouling out in the second OT, and in missing a couple of potential buzzer-beaters - but ultimately the Cougars 1) shot better, 2) turned the ball over less and 3) got to the line more.  And anytime you win those three categories a win is not only possible, but likely.  Let's hope they can continue the trend on Saturday.

Billy Donovan tends to drink the crazy juice sometimes, so it was easy to scoff at these thoughts on BYU's Jimmer Fredette. 

"Being in the SEC, we had a chance to see a lot of great point guards in John Wall and Devan Downey, and I don't think either one of those two guys impact the college game like Fredette does," Donovan said Wednesday. "He has a totally different effect level on the game.

A day later, and maybe Billy Donovan's not so crazy. Fredette dropped 37 points on 26 shots to lead BYU to a double-overtime win over Donovan's Gators in a wild game that would have been overshadowed by the Villanova-Robert Morris thriller had CBS had the sense to switch to that game sooner. Fredette didn't always play perfectly - there were times when Florida played the pick and roll well - but he got hot in the second half and singlehandily carried his team.

Okay, fine, Donovan's still crazy. Fredette's not John Wall. Still, he certainly showed today why he's one of the most overlooked players in the country.