NEW ORLEANS — After 40 minutes, the Gators were trapped in familiar territory: tied with BYU in the NCAA Tournament and heading to overtime after a missed shot by Chandler Parsons.
But this time around, history did not repeat itself.
Behind a monstrous effort from senior forward Alex Tyus, the No. 2-seed Gators (29-7) notched an 83-74 victory in a Sweet 16 matchup against the third-seeded Cougars (32-5) on Thursday in New Orleans.
Florida’s balanced scoring and dominant defensive effort against BYU senior Jimmer Fredette propelled UF into a Saturday matchup against Butler in the Elite Eight.
“We’re happy to advance, happy to be playing on Saturday,” UF coach Billy Donovan said. “It’s been so rewarding for me to see them make the journey they’ve made to this point.”
Tyus played inspired basketball for 32 minutes, laying out for loose balls and crashing the glass for every rebound.
He finished with 19 points and a game-high 17 boards, including five points and his second three-pointer of the season in the opening 2:36, all on the biggest stage of his life.
“It means a lot, just being able to come out here, play to the best of my ability tonight and help the team win in many different ways,” Tyus said.
Tyus’ persistent effort in the final minutes of regulation carried into overtime.
He got off to a strong start in the extra period, grabbing an offensive rebound after UF’s first shot and converting the putback to give the Gators a lead they never relinquished.
“When he has a lot of activity and is really flying around, because of his athleticism, he has a great ability to impact the game,” Donovan said. “He’s a great kid, and he worked hard.”
Fredette, the nation’s leading scorer, eclipsed the 30-point mark for the second year in a row against Florida, this time going off for 32 one year after dropping 37 points.
But thanks to a strong defensive effort from guards Kenny Boynton and Scottie Wilbekin, he did so on 11-of-29 shooting, including 3 of 15 from beyond the arc.
“[Boynton] did an unbelievable job of limiting his open looks,” Parsons said. “He had 32 points, but I think it was a great job that we did defensively.”
Boynton was playing just five days after spraining his left ankle against UCLA in the second round, but he showed no signs of pain.
The sophomore guard worked around screens and shadowed Fredette for nearly all of the 40 minutes he was on the floor.
Fredette did everything he could to will BYU to the win, controlling the ball and taking most of the Cougars’ final shots.
But the Gators harassed the senior throughout, and he never found his stroke.
Just as important as the defense on Fredette was Florida’s ability to guard his teammates, as no other Cougar scored in double-digits.
“That’s the biggest thing when you look at the stat sheet,” Donovan said. “I thought that was going to be really important.”
Florida got off to a hot shooting start and a 20-10 lead, hitting eight consecutive shots following a Boynton miss to open the game.
But UF’s outside shot cooled considerably, and the Gators struggled to get the ball inside against a BYU zone that double-teamed nearly every pass to the post.
Late in the game, the Gators went back to Tyus and the powerful interior scoring that got them to this point in the season, as Florida’s frontcourt players scored the team’s final 14 points in regulation.
With the exception of senior center Vernon Macklin, who finished with nine points, all of Florida’s starters scored in double digits. Boynton had 17 points, Erving Walker added 16 and Parsons scored 16 while grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out seven assists.
