"Fredette About It."
That’s what a sign read Thursday night at the Pepsi Center. One presumes it meant how the Wofford Terriers should have felt about winning their first-ever NCAA tournament game.
But let’s just say if Brigham Young doesn’t play better than the Cougars did in a 74-66 second-round win over Wofford, they can Fredette about making a deep tournament run.
Sure, plenty in the country would love to see BYU guard Jimmer Fredette have a scoring show in the tournament similar to the one Davidson guard Stephen Curry enjoyed in surprisingly leading the Wildcats to a 2008 regional final. But these cats from Utah, who are Cougars to be precise, might not have that kind of claw.
"We didn’t play great, but we toughed it out in the end," Fredette said after Thursday’s win.
The Cougars are a No. 3 seed but that’s primarily based upon what they did before rugged forward Brandon Davies was suspended March 1 for the remainder of the season for violating the school’s honor code. At that point, BYU was ranked No. 3 in the nation with a record of 27-2.
Since then, the Cougars are 4-2, falling by 18 points in each of their two losses. They were crushed 72-54 last Saturday in the Mountain West Conference final by San Diego State, a team they had beaten twice by 13 points in the regular season.
BYU, which advanced to face No. 11 Gonzaga on Saturday, wasn’t that sharp against No. 14 Wofford. And neither was Fredette.
Fredette scored 32 points, exceeding his NCAA-leading 28.5 average. But he shot just 10-of-25, including 2-of-9 from three-point range.
"Sometimes, the shots just weren’t falling," said Fredette, whose team shot just 39.3 percent against the Southern Conference Tournament champions. "But I just kept battling, playing my game, being aggressive. They were double-teaming me a lot out top ... I didn’t shoot the ball great, but I still was pleased with my effort and how I was able to kind of control the game and get other guys involved."
Fredette had seven assists, which wasn’t bad. But does he need to score closer to 52 points, which is what he did in a Mountain West Conference semifinal against New Mexico, for the Cougars to advance deep into the tournament?
Maybe.
The Cougars didn’t lose a tremendous amount of scoring when the 6-foot-9 Davies was suspended for what the Salt Lake Tribune has reported was for having sex with his girlfriend (pre-martial sex is honor violation at the Mormon school). Davis was averaging 11.1 points and 6.2 rebounds, but he gave the Cougars an inside presence that helped balance their attack.
But Davies is street clothes on the BYU bench during this NCAA tournament. So let the Jimmer show begin.
He’s unquestionably the biggest attraction among the eight teams making the trek to Denver. Fredette-related signs were plastered throughout the Pepsi Center, including one that read "St. Jimmer Day" and another declaring, "I’m Going to Jimmerland."
Fredette might have had to really ice his arm down after getting back Thursday night to the team hotel. Not just because he took 37 shots against the Terriers, including going 10-of-12 from the free-throw line, but because he signed a bevy of autographs after he took a seat in the stands to watch Gonzaga finish off St. John’s, 86-71, in Thursday’s Southeast Region nightcap.
"Not for him," BYU forward Charles Abouo said about whether it’s any extra pressure Fredette faces due to fans wanting him to score 50 every night. "Jimmer, he’s really poised because all he tries to do is help his team win. For him, whether that’s 52 or 20 or 10, his objective is always to try to help us win. So I don’t think he feels any pressure to score any points."
We’ll see if that changes for Fredette as the NCAA tournament continues. No doubt Gonzaga coaches will be studying how the Terriers paid close attention to Fredette.
"I thought we did a terrific job on him," said Wofford coach Mike Young. "He’s going to score. He is such a good player. So much of their offense is geared to his talents."
The Cougars led just 49-43 midway through the second half. But then forward Logan Magnusson drilled a three-pointer for a 52-43 lead. Moments later, Magnusson hit another three-pointer to make the lead 55-47.
BYU, though, can’t depend on Magnuson to do that regularly. Before going 2-of-3 Thursday, he was shooting a meager 5-of-19 this season from three-point range.
As for Fredette, maybe he’s just getting started in this NCAA tournament. Then again, maybe he isn’t.
In last year’s tournament opener, Fredette was one of the most talked-about players, scoring 37 points to lead the Cougars to a 99-92 win over Florida. In their second game, though, Fredette slumped badly, shooting 5-of-13 and scoring 21 points as Kansas State ousted BYU, 84-72.
BYU coach Dave Rose, though, does see a more grounded team this time in the tournament.
"Guys were jumping around (last year)," Rose said. "I think guys (Thursday) were happy with the win and looking forward to our next challenge. I think that’s all part of just growth and maturity in a team. This team is pretty business-like. They are a team that understands that every night we expect each other to win."
But if the Cougars don’t play better as the tournament unfolds, they can Fredette about winning too many more games.
