Florida next to brace for Jimmer-mania

Just like everyone else in college basketball, Florida is quite familiar with Jimmer-mania.

Jimmer Fredette's production - 28.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game - is impossible to ignore. If anything, BYU's senior guard is getting stronger, scoring at least 30 points in six of his last seven games.

But second-seeded Florida doesn't buy that third-seeded BYU will be a one-man team when they meet in the NCAA tournament regional semifinals tonight (4:15 p.m., TBS) in New Orleans.

The Gators know from experience.

BYU beat Florida 99-92 in double overtime in a first-round game last season. Fredette scored 37 points, yet what really hurt the Gators was a career-game from reserve guard Michael Loyd Jr., who poured in 26 points.

Now with a second chance, Florida's players say they have plenty of respect for all of the Cougars - even if it's Fredette who is dominating the highlights.

"The game plan isn't just to stop Jimmer," the Gators' Chandler Parsons said. "They've got a complete team. We had a taste playing against them last year and now we understand just how good they are. We don't have to watch film to understand that. They're strong and they execute."

Florida is almost the antithesis of BYU, with multiple seemingly anonymous options who can hurt opponents during any given game. Four players average at least 11 points and the Gators often use a 10-man rotation.

Parsons, the SEC player of the year, is maybe the best example. The 6-foot-9 senior is averaging 11.4 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists, can step out and hit 3-pointers, is a solid defender and doesn’t make many bad decisions.

But he’s nowhere near the superstar that Fredette has become.

The 6-foot-2 shooting specialist has a well-deserved reputation as a nearly unstoppable scorer. He’s shooting 45.5 percent from the field and 40.6 from 3-point range despite constant double teams, but has also proven capable at creating for others.

He’s an unassuming superstar, with an easy laugh that keeps teammates loose and a surprisingly small ego for such a prolific scorer.

“I’ll be a willing passer if they’re going to double-team me and try to take away my scoring,” Fredette said. “But if they’re kind of single covering me and I see opportunities to score, that’s what I’ll do.”

In BYU’s locker room on Wednesday, Fredette was surrounded by more than 15 reporters while most of the other players sat around eating lunch in relative silence. The other Cougars are used to the attention Jimmer-mania commands.

“He gets all the attention, but deservedly so,” BYU forward Noah Hartsock said. “It’s fun watching him going out there and play. I think it helps our teams because we get a lot of national exposure.”

Hartsock certainly expects Fredette’s usual array of offensive production against the Gators, but finding the new Michael Loyd Jr. will be important, too.

“It’s vital for our tournament success,” Hartsock said. “Our bench play is crucial for us, especially this time a year when everyone might be a little fatigued and tired.”

So far, the bench has produced. In the Cougars’ opening round game against Wofford, senior Logan Magnusson scored 10 points, just his second game in double figures all season.

In their second-round win over Gonzaga, it was sophomore Stephen Rogers who emerged with 10 points and three rebounds in just 11 minutes.

The added contributions from role players have been especially important since starting forward Brandon Davies was suspended for violating the school’s honor code. But BYU coach Dave Rose said it’s a trend that started long before the Cougars lost their third-leading scorer.

“I believe that it’s one of the strengths of our team that we’ve had guys that have stepped up all year long,” Rose said. “And we’ll need that to happen on Thursday in order to be successful.”

Auriemma rips UConn fans: Connecticut fans may have seen their last NCAA tournament game in Storrs for a while.

Coach Geno Auriemma, disappointed that fewer than 6,000 fans showed up at the 10,000-seat Gampel Pavilion for UConn’s second-round win over Purdue on Tuesday, said he will ask athletic director Jeff Hathaway not to bid on hosting the tournament for the next five years.

Auriemma said asking fans to attend a regular season, Big East tournament and first two rounds of the NCAA tournament in Connecticut is a lot.

He joked that it might help if UConn won more games. The team has lost one game in the last three seasons.

“I think we have a real spoiled group of fans,” Auriemma said.

Pat McKenna, a spokesman for the team, said Wednesday that Auriemma was serious about asking not to host the tournament, but has not yet spoken to Hathaway.

Anderson leaves Missouri for Arkansas: Mike Anderson is returning to Arkansas to become the Razorbacks’ basketball coach.

The school confirmed the move on Wednesday night.

Anderson leaves Missouri after five seasons to return to the school where he was an assistant to Nolan Richardson for 17 seasons. He replaces John Pelphrey, who was fired on March 13.

Anderson’s departure is certain to anger Missouri fans who just six days earlier were assured by the Tigers’ coach that “I’m excited about what’s taking place at Missouri, and I plan on being at Missouri.” But they had also grown accustomed to previous flirtations — Anderson turned down $2 million offers and both the Georgia job in 2009 and Oregon one year later.

Anderson was 111-57 in five seasons at Missouri, including an appearance in the Elite Eight in 2009. The Tigers were 23-11 this season, losing to Cincinnati in the second round of the NCAA tournament. He was 89-41 in four seasons at Alabama-Birmingham before that.

Stanford heads to familiar site in Spokane: Tara VanDerveer remembers the moment almost as if it were yesterday: Candice Wiggins and her fellow starters huddled in a circle, holding hands in close-knit celebration after finally ending Stanford’s 10-year Final Four drought.

That was four years ago at the Spokane Regional after a thrilling victory over top-seeded Maryland. This weekend, VanDerveer’s No. 1 Cardinal (31-2) will return to that very site in the Pacific Northwest needing two more wins to reach a fourth straight Final Four.

“That was a fabulous game,” VanDerveer recalled of the regional final. “We had a little chip on our shoulder because we were a No. 2 seed. It was incredibly intense and moving. We want to go back there and recapture that spirit. We have to play well.”

Wiggins scored 41 points that night to lead Stanford past Maryland 98-87. The Cardinal went on to upset Connecticut in the Final Four before falling to Tennessee in the NCAA title game in Tampa, Fla. Current fifth-year senior Melanie Murphy was Wiggins’ roommate in Spokane during that run.

“Now, it’s like returning to the scene of the crime,” Murphy said after practice Wednesday, a day ahead of the team’s charter flight to Spokane and check-in day at the historic downtown Davenport Hotel. “That year was a huge turning point. The Maryland game finally put us over the hump, back to the Final Four. Then, we had a lot of returners the next year, which allowed us to continue that legacy (of annual Final Four trips) that we had in the 90s.”

Stanford is riding a 25-game winning streak after capturing its 63rd straight home victory at Maples Pavilion on Monday night by beating St. John’s 75-49. Next up is No. 5 North Carolina (27-8) on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. at the Spokane Arena. In the first game, Gonzaga (30-4) plays Louisville (22-12) at 6.

Thanks to Murphy’s music writing skills and a whirlwind on-campus production over the past two weeks right at Maples, the Cardinal debuted a music video Wednesday to bring some additional hype to the weekend. “I Got Bounce” hit YouTube and Facebook on Wednesday and was already beginning to generate quite a buzz.

“A lot of people think Stanford, we’re a bunch of deadbeats,” said VanDerveer, who thinks the video could create even more interest for potential Stanford-bound high school students. “It’s just the opposite.”

Stanford has already played in Spokane once this season, beating Gonzaga 84-78 in a hard-fought game on Nov. 21. The West Coast Conference champion Zags also have advanced to the round of 16 after the 11th-seeded hosts upset No. 3 UCLA 89-75 on Monday night.

A Stanford-Gonzaga regional final would thrill basketball-crazed Spokane.

Kayla Pedersen and Jeanette Pohlen, now the Cardinal’s two senior stars, were freshmen the last time in Spokane and playing in their first NCAA tournament.