NEW ORLEANS – Not even one of those palm readers on Bourbon Street could have envisioned what transpired here on Thursday night.
The headline in the local paper screamed “JIMMER-MANIA – Scoring prowess, personality have made BYU guard a sensation.” The reference, of course, was to BYU senior Jimmer Fredette, the nation’s leading scorer and one of the top storylines of March Madness 2011.
However, the Gators took the court at New Orleans Arena about Jimmered-out.
They had answered questions about him all week and didn’t exactly have fond memories of their only game against him – a 99-92 double-overtime loss to BYU in the first round of last year’s NCAA Tournament in which Fredette scored 37 points, including 10 in the decisive second overtime.
So what would those palm readers have never guessed? That mild-mannered Florida senior forward Alex Tyus would have the game of his career to upstage Fredette and help the Gators advance to the Elite Eight with an 83-74 overtime win over the Cougars. Tyus was nearly perfect, making 8 of 9 shots and going 2-for-3 from the line.
The Gators will face Butler in the regional final on Saturday and finally have a chance to cut down nets for the first time since winning back-to-back national titles in 2006 and 2007. None of the players on this year’s team were around then, but Tyus did something Thursday that hasn’t been done since Al Horford did it in the Final Four in 2007 against UCLA.
Tyus scored 19 points and grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds – matching Horford’s school record for a postseason game – in perhaps the best game of his career. He also became just the 11th player since 2000 to record at least 19 points and 17 rebounds in an NCAA Tournament game, a list that features former Oklahoma star Blake Griffin and North Carolina’s Sean May.
“That means a lot, just being able to come out and play to the best of my ability and help the team win in many different ways,’’ Tyus said. “I wanted to try and make an impact on the game.”
Tyus buzzed around the rim like a helicopter for most of the game. It was his offensive rebound and basket at the start of overtime that put the Gators up for good. And then, after Fredette missed a three-pointer on BYU’s first possession of overtime, Tyus grabbed the rebound that led to a basket by Kenny Boynton for a four-point Florida lead.
The game wasn’t over at that point, but it certainly was when Boynton stole an errant Fredette pass and eventually got the ball in Erving Walker’s hands. Walker drove the lane, passed to Tyus, and he promptly dunked it home for an 81-72 lead with 1:11 left in overtime.
Game over -- and a big smile on the usually reserved Tyus’ face.
While Boynton’s and freshman guard Scottie Wilbekin’s defense on Fredette was huge – Fredette scored a game-high 32 points but needed 29 shots to do it – it was often Tyus grabbing the missed shots and making sure the Cougars didn’t clean up many of Fredette’s misses. Fredette finished 11 of 29 shooting, including 3 of 15 from three-point distance.
“You have to be on him every possession,’’ Boynton said. “He took a shot about every possession, so he was bound to get 30. There was pretty much nothing more I could do.’’
Boynton could see Fredette getting frustrated near the end of the game and overtime when his shots started missing. Fredette missed his first six shots of the game and then his final two in regulation and both of his shots in overtime. He didn’t score after his lay-up with 2:54 left in regulation tied the game at 67.
For at least one night, Jimmer-Mania took a back seat to Terrific Tyus.
One of the most gifted athletes on the team, Tyus has sacrificed points and rebounds to fit into Billy Donovan’s system. He’s had his moments this season – scoring a season-high 20 points in an early win over Kent State and grabbing a season-high 13 rebounds in Saturday’s win over UCLA to advance to the Sweet 16.
But for many stretches of his senior season, Tyus has been quiet on and off the court, his scoring average dipping from 11.8 to 8.6, and his rebounds down from 6.9 to 5.7.
Much of that has to do with the addition of freshman Patric Young, who spells Tyus and starting center Vernon Macklin, a luxury Donovan didn’t have the past few seasons.
The player Fredette and the rest of those inside New Orleans Arena saw on Thursday night is one freshman teammate Wilbekin knows. He hopes he hangs around for the rest of the tournament because that could mean special things for Florida.
“I’ve seen him before – a lot of times in practice,’’ Wilbekin said. “He always gets unbelievable rebounds for us. He just stepped up this game.’’
Tyus not only was a jumping jack grabbing rebounds inside, he hit only his second three-pointer of the season at the start of the game and even brought the ball up the court once in the first half. Tyus added a highlight-reel block on a lay-up attempt by BYU’s Stephen Rogers in the second half, soliciting plenty of “ahs” for how high he jumped.
“I think that somebody on every team always steps up – especially in big games,’’ BYU coach Dave Rose said. “Tyus is a really good player, athletic, long, a guy who can hit shots from the perimeter.’’
The Tyus on Thursday is the Tyus who could make a huge difference as the Gators continue their journey deeper into March Madness. He was active. He was aggressive. He was productive.
Mostly, he was a huge difference-maker in a game the Gators had to have one or more.
They needed Boynton’s and Wilbekin’s defense on Fredette. They needed another all-around game from Chandler Parsons, who finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and a team-high seven assists. They needed big shots from Walker, who scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half to keep the game close.
They got all the above and more. Toss in Tyus, and a winning formula played out for Donovan, who is leading the Gators to the Elite Eight for the fourth time.
“When he has a lot of activity and he’s really, really flying around, because of his athleticism, he has a great ability to impact the game,’’ Donovan said. “He did a great job defensive rebounding and limiting them at times to second shots.
“He really played a terrific game. I’m happy for him being a senior.’’
The Gators were happy all around late Thursday.
“Coach said before the game, ‘Let’s go out there and make history,’ ’’ Wilbekin said. “We made some kind of history with this win.’’
So did Tyus.
