Fredette's 34 lead BYU into Sweet 16

DENVER -- You can prepare for Jimmer Fredette and express your respect for the consistent numbers he's put up this season as the nation's leading scorer with a 28.5 average, but until you see him up close, it's impossible to understand how good he is.

Gonzaga and a rare national television audience for Brigham Young got an eyeful Saturday night. Fredette didn't score a point for more than eight minutes at the start of the game, but by the end, he had rained in 34 points, including seven three-pointers that seemed to come from other zip codes, as the Cougars blew out Gonzaga, 89-67.

What really made it tough on the Bulldogs (25-10) was that Fredette, who was 7-for-12 from three-point range, had help from his supporting cast. Backcourt mate Jackson Emery scored 16 points, Noah Hartsock added 13 on 5-for-5 shooting, including three threes, and reserve Stephen Rogers had 10. BYU (32-4) made 14 of 28 threes compared to 2-for-9 by Gonzaga, which was led by Steven Gray and Elias Harris with 18 points and Robert Sacre with 17.

"You have to pick your poison,'' Zags coach Mark Few said. "When you've got a guy that can get 50, he creates a lot of help [defense] situations. Believe it or not, I thought we defended him OK. The disappointing thing for me is that we really didn't want Jackson Emery to get going. Just the complementary guys.''

Emery and Hartsock combined to hit three three-pointers before Fredette got his first for an 18-17 lead with 11:31 left in the first half.

"I take a lot of pride in setting the tone,'' Emery said. "Jimmer is going to demand so much attention, but the important thing is that his supporting cast can hit shots.''

In the first half, Demetri Goodson did an excellent job of chasing Fredette all over the perimeter while getting occasional double-team help from a big man jumping out, but he had to leave after picking up two touch fouls in the first five minutes.

Gray took over on Fredette, but after he picked up his first foul, Few switched from man-to-man to a 1-2-2 zone with 5-11 David Stockton, son of Utah Jazz Hall of Famer John Stockton, playing out high on Fredette.

That was a green light for the Fredette to fire away, and his eight points in an 11-3 run gave BYU a 31-24 lead on its way to a 45-38 halftime edge.

Fredette opened the second half by bombing in a three from about 30 feet on the right side. That triggered a 16-6 run ending with a comparably long-distance three by Fredette for a 61-44 lead.

"He can shoot it from just about anywhere,'' Gray said. "We let the other guys hit threes, and that just spreads you out even more.''

When Fredette is feeling it, he's unstoppable.

"He had a couple of dribble-up transition threes,'' Few said. "He's coming full speed at you, and he gets a lot of calls as he dips into you. Then he pulls up on a dime from 30 feet. He's a heck of a player.''

Fredette was asked if he ever watches game tape and sees himself take a ridiculously long shot out of his range. The way coach Dave Rose rolled his eyes and smiled at that question spoke volumes, but Fredette said, "Not necessarily outside my range, but I look at them like, 'Wow, that's a long shot. Maybe I shouldn't have shot that.'

"But I've made them before.''

And he'll have a chance to make them again against Florida in the semifinals of the Southeast Regional in New Orleans.