Florida Vs. BYU: Gators Take 83-74 OT Victory In Jimmer Fredette’s Last Game

Alex Tyus takes home the game ball for Florida, scoring 19 points and grabbing 17 rebounds. Jimmer Fredette put up a ton of points, 32 to be exact, but did not have his best game. He started cold, took a ton of shots, and turned the ball over a few times in the second half after suffering a couple of dings. Still, he left the court as one of the best college hoops players ever.

Jimmer Fredette threw away a pass after trying to pump fake his man into a fouling situation, allowing Florida to burn nearly an entire shot clock worth of time before Alex Tyus jammed home a wide-open dunk to make it 79-72. Tyus has 19 points and has only missed one shot tonight, adding 17 rebounds and a block of Fredette.

Boynton drilled a three on a great pass from Vernon Macklin to extend the edge to 75-70 Florida after Charles Abouo hit free throws for Tyus’ foul. Erving Walker missed a free throw but made the other, and then Kyle Collinsworth struck with a layup to make it 76-72.

With 35 seconds left and the score tied 68-68, Florida called a timeout, setting up an Erving Walker drive with a kick to Kenny Boynton, who missed a three. Walker came down with the rebound, Gus Johnson went Guscon 1, and Billy Donovan called another time out with 15 seconds left. Some sloppiness occurred, Chandler Parsons missed a weird layup that looked like the kind of thing Jimmer Fredette and Erving Walker do on every other play, and to overtime we go.

There have been nine ties and eight lead changes in this game. Permanent Gus Johnson alert from here on out.

He’s got his holy warrior face on, I guess you’d call it, tromping around the court with stern eyes after every big shot. Florida still leads 65-63 with under four minutes left.

Four Gators are in double figures: Erving Walker, Chandler Parsons, Kenny Boynton, and Alex Tyus. Tyus also has 11 boards, the same as Kyle Collinsworth.

Everything is going totally off the rails here in New Orleans. Florida’s Alex Tyus drew a dunk and-one after being blocked by BYU’s Noah Hartsock, with the foul sending Logan Magnusson to the bench with four. That was probably the sanest play to occur in the past few minutes, with trap going Cajun ham, and I don’t even have time to Google what Cajun ham may or may not be.

Florida leads 61-55 with just over seven minutes left.

Florida leads 53-50 with about 11 minutes left to go in New Orleans.

Boynton has 11 points, eight of those in the second half, and has held Fredette to a seven-of-18 shooting night. Chandler Parsons has 10 points and seven rebounds, and Noah Hartsock has seven points and six boards.

Florida has taken a 46-44 lead about five minutes in.

Both teams have forgot how to shoot, with Walker missing a layup, Charles Abuou missing from close, and general clangin’ amuck. But Fredette finally hit a three, with the ball clunking around the rim for a minute and still earning a Gus Johnson “OH!”

Parsons trails Erving Walker’s 14, Fredette’s 10, and Jackson Emery’s nine. Walker and Emery have each hit a trio of three-pointers. Florida’s Alex Tyus and Collinsworth have battled to six rebounds apiece, with the Cougars taken an edge on the glass after giving up plenty of boards early.

Emery, Florida’s Patric Young, and BYU’s Logan Magnusson are the only players with multiple fouls, with only two each.

Jimmer Fredette is trying to draw fouls, but Florida’s doing a good job of staying planted during his pump fakes. It’s led to several moments tonight in which Fredette tries to initiate a foul, but just ends up bumping against a steadfast Gators defender before uncorking a wild shot that, yeah, would usually go in.

With three minutes to go, Fredette had yet to shoot a free throw and has still hit only one shot. He added a gallop around the entire half court that concluded with a lefty layup to double his point total. He now has six.

Florida needs to do a better job of hanging on to the pill, as they’ve turned the ball over seven times already. One thing nobody wants to do is give Fredette more opportunities to get going. This entire update has been all about a player with two points. These things happen.

The Gators jumped out to an early rebounding advantage, leading 14 to eight. At one point a series of offensive rebounds gave Florida at least a minute of offense, which will look great on the postgame time of possession line in the box score.

Florida Gators guard Kenny Boynton is on the floor for the Florida Gators against the BYU Cougars in tonight’s Sweet 16 matchup despite a recent ankle injury. Florida has raced out to a 12-8 lead, with both Alex Tyus and Erving Walker hitting early threes.

The highlight of the opening minutes, however, was Vernon Macklin’s block of a driving Jimmer Fredette. That’s right, Jimmer Nation -- even the chosen one can be stuffed. It was Boynton’s nimble defense that drove Fredette into Macklin, so it’s safe to say the ankle feels sufficient.

But if there’s a team that can do that, it’s Florida. The Gators are well-balanced, with four players averaging in double figures. They can fill it up offensively, mostly because you can’t gameplan to stop one guy. If you shut down Parsons, then you run the risk of Walker and Boynton beating you from the perimeter and Macklin dominating inside. The Gators also have a number of options with defending Fredette. They could put Parsons on him, to try to have a bigger defender, or they could run Boynton instead. Either way, it’ll be a much tougher matchup than anything Fredette has faced thus far. The Gators got here by coasting by No. 15 UC-Santa Barbara, 79-51, then holding off No. 7 UCLA, 73-65.

Star Watch: Fredette, of course, is the man to watch for BYU. For Florida, Parsons has to come up big on both ends to get the Gators to the next round.