UF falls to BYU 99-92 in double overtime thriller

By Adam Silverstein
March 18, 2010

Returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three seasons, the No. 10-seed Florida Gators had two chances to put away the No. 7-seed Brigham Young Cougars. Alas, the Gators failed on both occasions, leading the game to enter a second overtime and the Cougars to an eventual 99-92 victory in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, OK.

BYU star guard Jimmer Fredette led his team with 37 points on 50 percent shooting, while Michael Loyd, Jr. came off the bench for the Cougars with a career-high 26 points on 7-of-10 shooting in a surprising turn of events. Florida freshman guard Kenny Boynton posted a career-high 26 points of his own, hitting 8-of-17 shots from the field and 5-of-10 from downtown. Unfortunately for the Gators, Boynton fouled out with 3:57 remaining in the second overtime, removing the team’s most dynamic player from the court in the waning minutes.

Read the rest of OGGOA’s Florida vs. BYU NCAA Tournament story after the jump!

Up a game-high seven points on a fastbreak layup from freshman forward Erik Murphy in the first half, Florida looked to have control of the game early. BYU then exploded on a 14-2 run with 10 straight points from Loyd to take a 35-30 lead. Three free throws by Boynton were followed by a missed three at the buzzer by Parsons as the Gators trailed by two going into halftime.

Florida returned from the locker rooms with four straight turnovers, allowing the Cougars to complete a 10-0 run to get out to a game-high 13-point lead, 59-46. The Gators were quick to answer back as Boynton caught fire. With his team down eight, the freshman scored 14 straight points and three consecutive treys to give Florida a 63-60 lead with 5:53 left on the clock.

A hook shot by redshirt junior center Vernon Macklin (16 points, seven rebounds) tied it up at 68 with 3:27 remaining, but a quick three by Boynton would put UF on top 71-68. Junior forward Chandler Parsons (20 points, 10 boards) traded threes with BYU guard Jackson Emery as a foul on Macklin put the Gators back in the lead 75-73. Fredette responded by driving the lane and hitting a spectacular left-handed layup to tie it up at 75. Florida called a timeout with 18.8 seconds remaining, but Parsons missed a turnaround jumper as the buzzer sounded – forcing overtime.

In the first extra period, Loyd hit four clutch free throws to eliminate a 4-0 run by the Gators and tie the game at 79. Parsons and Loyd each scored a layup before senior forward Dan Werner missed a shot from the corner with time running down. Luckily for Florida, Boynton stole the ball back at halfcourt with 19.4 seconds left and another timeout was called by the bench. After taking the ball out, the Gators let the clock run down with Boynton throwing up an off-balance double-teamed three to move on to a second overtime.

Loyd continued his stellar play with a three to open the period. Boynton fouled out on the next possession after choosing to prevent Fredette from getting an easy layup. Fredette would regroup, hitting back-to-back treys to give his team a 93-86 lead with 1:20 to play; BYU would hold on from there, outscoring Florida 18-11 in the second overtime.

In the end, turnovers and missed opportunities (two game-winning shots) doomed the Gators. Florida played sloppy most of the game, giving up the ball 22 times to Brigham Young compared with 12 turnovers in the other direction.

The Gators’ loss also closed the career of Werner, who finished with four points and five rebounds on the day. BYU will move on to face the winner of the No. 2 Kansas State Wildcats vs. No. 15 North Texas Mean Green game, set to tip-off at 3:30 p.m. on CBS.

Photo Credit: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

13 Comments

  1. Mr2Bits says:

    The points off turn-over ratio killed the Gators today. BYU seemed to make us pay every time. Really disappointed in the plays UF drew up to win it twice as they both looked desperate rather than calculated. BYU definitely got some flop calls as well……oh well, not like I expected us to make it past KState anyhow. Guess a first round departure is better than going deep in the NIT

  2. Drew 4 Orange & Blue says:

    We played hard and really should never have let this go to OT or 2OT as we had many many chances to put the thing away….I still think Billy had the right game plan to win but who can predict a scrub coming off the bench mo-hawk and all dropping 26 or whatever he had…we should be a much higher seed next year and should have at least a sweet 16 caliber team

  3. John Shanks says:

    One more made FT and we move on, very close, and BYU played well. Please Knight we need you.

  4. Mr2Bits says:

    SEC is looking like crap so far……..

  5. ReptilesRule says:

    Went about as expected, close but no cigarette. This team was fortunate to be in the tournament and at least they took it to the wire. It looked like when we were 13 down that all the critics would be saying “I told you so”. This team is one good guard and one big man away from making some real noise…

  6. Tony M says:

    Super job on the tweet game updates, Adam. Tough loss for the team. Despites some sloppy but gritty play, they never gave up. A little more talent, and we’re deep into the tourney. A season to build upon.

  7. Thanks Tony. Was happy to do it for four quarters…for six periods? Got pretty tiring.

  8. ZURBO says:

    disgusting…its like watching the miami heat of the late 90’s early 2000’s. You just know that they are gonna blow it somehow.

  9. Mitch says:

    Until this team has a real floor general they will struggle. Walker plays hard but cannot control the game. Walker may score more than T Green did but he is half the player. To me Tyus never grew into what we were told is his natural position. Boynton chucked in some 3’s to really help the team, but he is a shooting slashing guard not a floor general. We really need a top flight point guard for next year. Ive watched Knight, he is more like Boynton. We would still need a real pure PG. Dpnt know who that could be but I hope Billy does.

  10. brlgator says:

    I was pretty impressed the west division has 8 ranked teams. byu was ranked as high as #15 before the conference tourney not sure where they ended up. but i thought we looked real good and it was nice to see boyton take over. We are one player away from being a top 15 team

  11. This Boynton says:

    Dis ya boi Boynton. I finna be da truth nexx yeer up in da ville. Ya hurd me? 1 mo year then A Riverz gon come up n we gon ball all day long. Holla nexx seasun plabois and girlz. Go gataz

  12. Unless Kenny’s in Seminole, FL for some strange reason, that’s not him. Just an FYI for the readers.

  13. This Boynton says:

    HELL YEA IM UP IN SEMINOLE GETTIN MY GROOVE ON BABY

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