Gators  92    Cougars  99

Recap: B-Y-U vs. Florida

Sports Network | March 18, 2010

Oklahoma City, OK (Sports Network) - Jimmer Fredette drilled a pair of huge three-pointers in the second overtime period and finished with 37 points, as BYU ended an eight-game NCAA Tournament losing streak with a 99-92 victory over Florida in the first round of the West Region.

Michael Loyd Jr. chipped in a career-high 26 points for BYU (30-5), which last won an NCAA tourney game in 1993 as a seventh seed in the first round against SMU. The Cougars, seeded seventh again this year, will next play Kansas State, which dominated North Texas, 82-62, in the second round on Saturday.

Lloyd drilled a three-pointer to start the second extra session, and a steal at the other end led to one free throw by Fredette, who had made 37 in a row before a miss. Another Fredette free throw moments later kept BYU's lead at three and Lloyd hit 1-of-2 with just over three minutes left to give the Cougars an 87-83 edge.

Fredette followed a Florida turnover with a three-pointer, but Erving Walker countered with a shot from beyond the arc for the Gators to again make it a four-point game. The Gators could not come up with a rebound at the defensive end and the extended possession led to another Fredette three-pointer for a 93-86 lead with 1:22 to play.

Alex Tyus missed a three-point try for Florida and Loyd drilled two from the stripe to extend the lead to nine, sealing the outcome.

BYU, the best free throw shooting team in the nation, missed three from the line early in the second extra period, but finished 25-of-32 overall for the contest.

Fredette made half of his 26 shots, including a 3-for-8 performance from three-point range. Loyd -- a 61 percent free throw shooter -- hit 9-of-10 from the stripe and 7-of-10 shots from the floor.

"I just wanted to be aggressive from the beginning," Fredette said. "I was able to get in the lane and be aggressive and make layups. I just continued to do that until the end where I was able to hit some big threes."

Another win could give the Cougars a huge advantage next weekend, as the West Region semifinals and final will be played in Salt Lake City. BYU, however, hasn't advanced past the second round since 1981 when the Cougars, behind Danny Ainge, knocked off Princeton, UCLA and Notre Dame before falling to Virginia in the regional final.

Kenny Boynton scored 27 points before fouling out in the second extra period for Florida (21-13), which was back in the NCAA Tournament after a two-year absence. The Gators had won the national championship in each of their last two tourney appearances and lost an NCAA game for the first time since a second-round setback to Villanova in 2005.

"One of the most disappointing things this time of the season is when you and your players walk off the court knowing you could have done more," said Florida head coach Billy Donovan. "These guys couldn't have given any more physically and I think we had a hard time scoring because of fatigue."

Chandler Parsons scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Gators, who trailed by as many as 13 in the second half. Vernon Macklin scored 16 points and Walker finished with 12 in defeat.

Florida trailed the entire second half until Macklin's bucket with 3 1/2 minutes remaining tied it at 68-68. Boynton then drilled a three-pointer to put the Gators ahead.

After a bucket by BYU's Noah Hartsock, Parsons canned a shot from above the top of the arc for a 74-70 Florida lead with 1:44 to play. Jackson Emery, though, countered with a triple to make it a one-point game moments later.

Macklin was called for a charge with 1:08 left, but Fredette couldn't score inside and Macklin made 1-of-2 from the line for a two-point edge. Fredette then drove to the hoop to tie it with 25.3 seconds remaining and Parsons missed a turnaround jumper in the final second before BYU's last-ditch opportunity with 5/10ths of a second left came up short and forced overtime.

Florida opened the first overtime session with four straight points, but BYU followed with the next four. After a trade of baskets kept it tied at 81-81 with less than a minute to play, Parsons missed a three-pointer and the Cougars grabbed the rebound with 30 seconds left. Fredette, despite not needing to rush, turned it over to give Florida the last shot and Dan Werner missed to send the contest to a second extra period.

BYU carried a 35-33 lead to the intermission and held a 49-46 edge with 12 1/2 minutes to play in the second half, then opened some breathing room with 10 straight points. Lloyd started the burst with a pair of free throws and Jonathan Tavernari followed with a three-pointer before a Fredette drive and a shot from beyond the arc by Emery gave BYU a 59-46 cushion with 9:08 to play.

Boynton, though, was able to keep the Gators in it with a string of 14 consecutive Florida points. His three-pointer with just under six minutes left made it 63-60, and after Fredette countered with a shot from beyond the arc, Boynton again hit from long distance to keep Florida within three.

Florida opened a seven-point lead with just over seven minutes to play in the first half, but BYU ran off 10 straight to move in front. Lloyd scored all 10 for the Cougars, hitting a three-pointer for a 29-28 lead before adding a bucket with 4:14 left. A Tyler Haws jumper with 2:51 remaining gave BYU a 35-30 edge and the only scoring for the rest of the half came on three free throws by Boynton.

BYU improved to 3-0 all-time versus Florida, but the teams had not met since 1991. The other matchup came in 1959...Florida fell to 22-8 in NCAA Tournament play under Billy Donovan...The 10th seed was the lowest for Florida since a No. 10 seed in 1995.