NCAA: BYU beats Florida 99-92; Robert Morris-Villanova in OT; ODU beats Notre Dame

NCAA: BYU beats Florida 99-92

BYU outlasts Florida, wins 99-92 in double overtime.

Villanova scores first six points of overtime to take a 64-58 lead over Robert Morris.

Jimmer Fredette’s two free throws in second overtime gives him 36 points for the game and BYU a 99-90 lead with less than a minute to play.

Corey Fisher scores first basket of overtime to give Villanova its first lead over Robert Morris since the Wildcats led 9-8.

Villanova was unable to convert an inbounds lob pass with less than a second play in regulation and the second-seeded Wildcats and No. 15 Robert Morris went to overtime tied at 58.

Mouphtaou Yarou’s layup brings second-seeded Villanova into a 58-58 tie with Robert Morris with less than a minute left in regulation.

Florida freshman Kenny Boynton, who led the Gators back from 13 points down in the second half, fouled out with 27 points when he fouled BYU’s Jimmer Fredette on a drive with 3:57 left in the second overtime.

Scottie Reynolds missed 12 of his first 13 shots from the field but the senior was 12 of 12 from the free throw line, that last two bringing Villanova into a 55-55 tie with Robert Morris with 1:48 to play. It was the game’s first tie since 2-2.

Robert Morris led 55-49 over Villanova with 3:06 to play, trying to become the fifth 15 seed to win a first-round game and the first since Hampton beat Iowa State 58-57 in 2001.

Michael Loyd Jr. kept BYU alive in overtime against Florida going 4 of 4 from the free throw line and getting a basket off a broken play. The Cougars and Gators went to a second overtime tied at 81.

Robert Morris’ Velton Jones became the first Colonial to foul out, but the 15th seed still led Villanova 55-47 with 3:57 to play.

Florida’s Chandler Parsons, who made a couple of buzzer-beaters this season, missed a jumper with 2 seconds left and the Gators and BYU were tied at 75 headed to overtime.

Carleton Scott’s 3-pointer rattled around and out, and 11th-seeded Old Dominion held off sixth-seeded Notre Dame 51-50. Trailing by three, the Fighting Irish rushed the ball up the court, but Scott’s attempt to tie the game wouldn’t fall, and Luke Harangody’s layup at the buzzer wasn’t enough. Old Dominion (27-8) was led by Frank Hassell, who scored 15 points.

Harangody scored only four points for Notre Dame (23-12) and was held scoreless until the final minute. Ben Hansbrough led the Irish with 17.

BYU is trying to snap a seven-game losing streak in the first round dating to a 1993 win over Southern Methodist.

BYU, the nation’s top free-throw shooting team, missed its first two of the game then made 12 in a row. Jimmer Fredette is 4 of 4 and has made 37 in a row. Teammate Tyler Haws hit his only two free throws earlier in the game to break Fredette’s school record of 39 straight.

Freshman Karon Abraham made a four-point play to give Robert Morris a 42-34 lead over second-seeded Villanova with 12 minutes to play.

Jimmer Fredette of BYU hit a 3 when Florida had closed within 63-60 but freshman Kenny Boynton answered with his fourth 3-pointer of the game to keep the Gators within one possession.

Notre Dame led Old Dominion 43-30 with 7 minutes to play despite leading scorer Luke Harangody being held without a point.

BYU went on a 10-0 run over 3½ minutes to take a 59-46 lead over Florida with just under 9 minutes to play.

Scottie Reynolds of Villanova went 0 of 5 from the field and had four points in the first half against Robert Morris after not starting the game over “a minor teaching point.” He hit his first shot of the second half, the time of the game he has been known to take over for the Wildcats.

Florida had seven turnovers in first 8 minutes of second half, matching its total from the first half. The Gators trailed BYU 51-46.

Jimmer Fredette, BYU’s leading scorer and the only player to break the 40 mark twice this season, had eight points in the first half against Florida, then matched that number in the first 6 minutes of the second half as the Cougars took a 47-42 lead.

Old Dominion opened the second half with a 9-2 run to go ahead 31-30, holding Notre Dame to 1-of-6 shooting over the first 6 minutes.

There was some Big East synergy early in the tournament with both its teams playing in the first wave of games finishing with a halftime score of 28-22. The only problem for the conference with a record-tying eight teams in the field was that Notre Dame was leading Old Dominion by the score, but Villanova was behind Robert Morris.

Villanova struggled to a 2-of-13 effort from 3-point range in the first half against Robert Morris with Taylor King, the one Wildcat who had struggled the most from behind the arc, making both 3s in the half. Robert Morris could have some foul trouble facing it as five players had two fouls at halftime.

Robert Morris held Villanova to seven field goals in the first half, the second straight solid 20-minute defensive effort by the Colonials. They held Quinnipiac to six field goals in the second half of the Northeast Conference championship game.

Villanova, which entered the tournament third in the nation in scoring at 85.2 points per game, trailed Robert Morris 24-16 with 4 minutes left in the first half after managing just one field over an 8½-minute stretch while getting outrebounded 17-5.

Second-seeded Villanova’s early 17-11 deficit to 15th-seeded Robert Morris shouldn’t be a total surprise. Last year, the Wildcats, playing as a No. 3 seed, started their run to the Final Four by rallying from a 14-point deficit to beat American University 80-67.

Michael Loyd, Jr., who came in averaging 4.4 points per game, went 4 of 4 from the field and had all the points in BYU’s 10-0 run that gave the Cougars a 31-28 lead over Florida.

Freshman Karon Abraham hit his first three 3-point attempts as Robert Morris opened a 13-9 lead over Villanova.

Notre Dame had the first extended run of the tournament, scoring 10 straight points to take a 15-6 lead over Old Dominion.

BYU came into the tournament leading the country in free throw shooting at 78.6 percent. Brandon Davies missed the first two the Cougars took against Florida.

Corey Fisher, the other Villanova starter benched for the beginning of the game against Robert Morris, came in at the first media timeout with the Wildcats’ leading 9-5.

Ben Hansbrough hit a 3-pointer to give Notre Dame a 10-6 lead over Old Dominion, the first points scored in an NCAA tournament game by a member of his family since his brother Tyler Hansbrough led North Carolina to the national championship last season.

Scottie Reynolds, Villanova’s leading scorer, was in the game with just over 16 minutes left in the first half after not starting as a “minor teaching point.”

Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody, who missed five games with a bruised knee, entered the game at the first media timeout. It’s nice to bring a guy who averages 24.1 points per game off the bench.

BYU freshman guard Tyler Haws, team’s third-leading scorer, returns to starting lineup after missing last game with eye injury. He scored first basket of the tournament.

NCAA March Madness has begun with BYU and Florida starting things off in Oklahoma City.

Villanova guards Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher weren’t in the starting lineup against Robert Morris. Coach Jay Wright said it was a “minor teaching point” and they would both play.

Morgan State forward Anthony Anderson, who was diagnosed with leukemia after the Bears’ first practice this season, may be healthy enough to travel to Buffalo for the team’s first round game against West Virginia on Friday. Anderson, who has missed the entire season, is currently in a weakened state after having chemo treatment this week at John’s Hopkins.