Florida eliminates BYU in overtime

NEW ORLEANS -- With 36.2 seconds left in overtime against Florida, Brigham Young coach Dave Rose surrendered to the inevitable, subbing out Jimmer Fredette to give him one last curtain call from the Cougars' fans Thursday night at New Orleans Arena.

Fredette left his final college game with 32 points, but none of those came in overtime. The Gators succeeded in shutting off the Fredette spigot, outscoring the Cougars 15-6 in overtime on their way to an 83-74 victory in a Southeast Regional semifinal.

Ultimately, the Gators' game plan of forcing Fredette to take tough shots while controlling his supporting cast succeeded -- but just barely. BYU (32-5) had no other players in double figures, and the Cougars shot 35.2 percent from the field.

Fredette made only 11 of 29 shots, including 3-for-15 from three-point range. In overtime, he missed two shots from three-point range and committed two turnovers.

"I had two threes that were pretty good looks,'' Fredette said. "I had space and the confidence to make that shot. If I made them, it would have been a different story.''

The Gators had four players in double figures, led by Alex Tyus with 19 points and 17 rebounds. Kenny Boynton had 17 points, Erving Walker added 16 and Chandler Parsons had 16 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

Florida (29-7) advanced to Saturday's Southeast Regional final against Butler (26-9).

Florida and BYU played two overtimes in the first round of the NCAA Tournament a year ago before the Cougars pulled out a 99-92 win. When Kyle Collinsworth missed the second of a one-and-one with 43.5 seconds left in regulation, Thursday night's game was tied at 68.

It looked as if Fredette would get the last shot until Boynton missed a three and teammate Walker chased down the long rebound. Parsons missed on a drive at the buzzer, which was OK for Florida because Fredette didn't get to touch the ball with the game on the line.

"I was going to have the ball,'' Fredette said. "I don't know if I'd have shot it or not, but I was going to have the opportunity to make a play.''

In the first half, Boynton hounded Fredette, and a variety of Gators, including big man Vernon Macklin, often switched out to provide double-team help whenever Fredette tried to come off a screen. Fredette didn't make his first basket until 6:17 remained to cut Florida's lead to 27-23. But he had 10 points in the blink of an eye before the Gators' Walker drained a three to tie it at 36 at halftime.

In the second half, Florida ran out to a 61-55 lead, but Fredette scored 11 of BYU's final 13 points in regulation, tying it at 67 on a layup in which he went around three Gators.

A foul shot by Tyus and the one by Collinsworth kept it tied at 68. But when the overtime period began, Fredette went cold along with the rest of his teammates, and the Gators romped.

Discussing Florida's defense, Fredette sounded as if he thought he ran out of time, not ammunition.

"Boynton did a pretty good job,'' he said. "They were doubling or switching on ball screens. I didn't make quite enough shots . . . It's tough that it's over.''