This is Noel John Alberto, and I am signing off from this live. Thank you all to those who stayed through this whole thing and checked in with me. Enjoy the rest of the tournament and comeback for more live tournament coverage including tomorrow's First Four games as Robert Morris faces North Florida and Dayton faces off against Boise State.
Ole Miss gets hot in the second half thanks Moody and Rhett to cap off the comeback and now faces Xavier in Jacksonville on Thursday!
Final: Brigham Young Cougars 90 Ole Miss Rebels 94
That's it! Ole Miss comes back from 17 down to knock off BYU 94-90!
2.9: Summers nails the second to ice it! (94-90 Ole Miss)
No timeouts for BYU
2.9: Summers at the line. Missed the first.
4.3: Haws with a tough three! Not done yet! (93-90 Ole Miss)
9.2: Newby makes second. (93-87 Ole Miss)
9.2: After a couple of missed threes for BYU, Newby fouled. Makes first free throw. (92-87 Ole Miss)
32.0: Saiz slams it home. (91-87 Ole Miss)
37.6: Collinsworth fouled by Rhett. He fouls out of the game. Two shots for BYU. Nails both. (89-87 Ole Miss)
57.2: Rhett with the jumper. (89-85 Ole Miss)
1:20: FISCHER AGAIN! Huge three. BYU uses their final timeout. (87-85 Ole Miss)
1:29: Moody to White. (87-82 Ole Miss)
1:58: MOODY!! AMAZING!!! Nowhere to go, and he nails the three! (85-82 Ole Miss)
2:33: Haws answers! (82-82)
2:53: Summers with a nice jumper from the foul line. (82-80 Ole Miss)
3:24: Collinsworth misses both. Massive.
3:24: Foul on Rhett. Last media timeout. We are in for a fantastic finish! This is what March Madness is all about!
3:33: Newby ties it up. (80-80)
3:53: FISCHER! Gutsy three by shooting it on the fastbreak! (80-78 BYU)
4:31: A scramble between both teams for the loose ball, arrow to BYU.
5:01: Kafusi with the offensive board then an and one! Makes the free throw (78-77 BYU)
5:19: Summers nails the jumper. Timeout Ole Miss. (78-74 Ole Miss)
5:41: Haws answers back! Him and Moody are going toe-to-toe! (76-74 Ole Miss)
5:53: Moody with a three! Five point lead! (76-71 Ole Miss)
6:03: Moody's third foul. Haws nails both from the line. (73-71 Ole Miss)
6:11: Saiz makes one of two (73-69 Ole Miss)
6:11: Sharpe picks up his fourth foul. Saiz to the line for two due to the double bonus.
6:33: Moody with the turnover.
6:51: Collinsworth makes one of two. (72-69 BYU)
It's a tale of two halves for both teams. Ole Miss is finally getting all the easy buckets now while BYU is struggling from the field and turning it over. Polar opposites from the first half.
6:51: Collinsworth with a nice spin move and is fouled. Two shots after the media timeout.
7:15: RHETT with another big-time jam! Timeout BYU! (72-68 Ole Miss)
7:47: MOODY!!!! Gives Ole Miss their first lead with a three! (70-68 Ole Miss)
8:08: Saiz finds Rhett under the bucket open and he throws it down and another foul! Makes the free throw. (68-67 BYU)
8:41: Haws with the answer. (68-64 BYU)
8:49: Rhett with the bucket... AND the foul off of the turnover. (66-64 BYU)
8:58: BYU turnover and Moody with a tough floater. BYU timeout. (66-61 BYU)
9:18: Rhett with another simple finish. (66-59 BYU)
9:27: Collinsworth and Bartley both pick up their fourth fouls.
9:56: Halford with a huge three. (66-57 BYU)
10:13: Bartley to the line. Makes one of two. (63-57 BYU)
10:37: Haws misses the front end of the one-and-one.
10:54: Saiz flushes it down! (62-57 BYU)
11:01: Collinsworth makes two free throws (62-55 BYU)
11:13: White answers right back with a three of his own! (60-55 BYU)
11:17: BANG! Collinsworth gets up there to put home the lob plus the foul! Makes the free throw. (60-55 BYU)
11:26: Newby makes both. (57-52 BYU)
11:26: Newby picks off the pass this time around and nearly gets the roll for an and one! Two free throw for Newby after the media timeout. Chance to cut the lead to two possessions.
12:08: White picks off the pass. Easy layup. (57-50 BYU)
12:38: Bartley from Collinsworth! (57-48 BYU)
12:40: Haws draws the foul. BYU has gone cold from the field.
13:27: Moody hits the jumper! Down to seven. (55-48 BYU)
13:45: BYU timeout. Ole Miss has cut the lead down to nine!
14:07: Coleby throws it down! (55-46 BYU)
14:18: BYU on the attack and gets the foul. Andrus makes both from the stripe. (55-44 BYU)
14:30: Rhett throws down the alley-oop from Summers! (53-44 BYU)
15:15: Coleby misses both. Missed chances.
15:17: Newby nails one of two. Coleby gets the offensive board, and he goes to line for two! (53-41 BYU)
15:17: Newby fouled by Sharp. Free throws coming up after the media timeout.
15:34: Halford answers right back. (53-40 BYU)
15:51: Jones with the jumper. Good start for Ole Miss (51-40 BYU)
16:12: Summers gets a jumper to go down. (51-38 BYU)
16:42: Foul on Newby.
16:57: Jones led Newby too far with the pass on the break. Turnover.
17:48: Collinsworth checks out of the game with three fouls.
19:05: Summers with the layup (51-36 BYU)
19:20: Haws continues to have a hot hand. (51-34 BYU)
19:25: Moody gets up and puts home the lob. Get up little fella! (49-24 BYU)
Second half underway.
Update: Collinsworth is currently on the bike in the locker room testing his knee.
First half stat leaders: Haws: 19 points, 8/12 FG (3/5 3PT), 2 rebounds, 2 assists. Fischer: 17 points, 5/7 FG (4/6 3PT), 4 rebounds. Moody: 11 points, 4/9 FG (2/5 3PT), 2 assists.
Injury update: Kyle Collinsworth has hurt his knee. They are evaluating him to see if he will be availible for the second half.
Key first half stats: BYU is shooting an astounding 10-15 from the three! Ole Miss has nine offensive rebounds but has not really converted on many opportunities.
Halftime: BYU Cougars 49 Ole Miss Rebels 32
4.0: Summers misses both free throws. First half ends. (49-32 BYU)
35.0: Winder! He joins the fun with a three! (49-32 BYU)
56.0: One of two for White. (46-32 BYU)
1:13: Haws is feeling it! This kid cannot be stopped! (46-31 BYU)
1:25: Rhett with another bucket for Ole Miss (44-31 BYU)
1:42: Haws with another three on the fast break! (44-29 BYU)
2:00: Haws with another bucket. (41-29 BYU)
2:23: Rhett with another bucket. (39-29 BYU)
2:41: Kaufusi with the pump and draws the foul. Makes one of two from the stripe. (39-27 BYU)
3:01: Saiz to the line. Foul on Bartley. One-and-one for Ole Miss. Nails both. (38-27 BYU)
3:19: Rhett blocks the shot! Turnover BYU
3:38: Fischer nails both free throws. (38-25 BYU)
3:38: Ole Miss has had eight offensive rebounds compared to none for BYU. The Rebels have to do better turning those into points.
3:38: Fischer fouled on his drive. Last media timeout. Two shots after the break.
4:18: Halford from distance! Eighth three for BYU! It is raining threes in Dayton! Timeout Ole Miss. (36-25 BYU)
4:48: Fischer fouled. Shoots two. Makes one of two (33-25 BYU)
5:25: Haws with another bucket. (32-25 BYU)
5:50: Rhett with a bucket (30-25 BYU)
6:07: Haws with the defender in his face! Another three! (30-23 BYU)
6:46: Newby tries to give it back to Moody on the fastbreak but turn it over
7:12: Moody hangs in the air and gets the bucket! (27-23 BYU)
7:31: Haws with a nice turnaround. (27-21 BYU)
7:50: Moody nails his free throw (25-21 BYU)
7:50: Clock malfunction on Haws' three. Nine seconds off the game clock.
7:59: Moody trying to go toe-to-toe with Fischer on the scoresheet here! An and-one! Has scored last eight for Ole Miss! Third media timeout. Free throw to come after. (25-20 BYU)
8:15: Haws nails his first three! Six of eleven from downtown for the Cougars! (25-20 BYU)
9:05: Fischer again! This kid is hot! Another three! (22-18 BYU)
9:33: Jones misses the front-end of the one-and-one.
9:33: Collinsworth picks up his second foul after a failed putback attempt. Ole Miss in the bonus. (19-18 BYU)
9:42: Moody nails another three! (19-18 BYU)
9:57: Two shots for Kaufusi. Makes both (19-15 BYU)
10:15: Moody rattles it home! Lead down to two! (17-15 BYU)
10:43: Turnover BYU
11:11: Saiz fouled during the shot and will get a chance for a three-point play! And converts. (18-12 BYU)
11:21: Bartley fouled on his way up to the basket. Two shots. Makes one of two (17-9 BYU)
11:41: Second media timeout. BYU leads by seven. Collinsworth not on the board yet but getting done assisting and rebounding the ball
12:35: Halford nails a three off of the inbound! (16-9 BYU)
13:45: Newby nails a three (13-9 BYU)
14:21 Haws on the board (13-6 BYU)
14:45: Fischer nails another three! All eleven for the BYU! (11-6 BYU)
15:17: White drives down the lane with contact and puts the Rebels down two (8-6 BYU)
First media timeout. BYU leads Ole Miss 8-4
15:43 Perez with the put back for Ole Miss (8-4 BYU)
16:18: Summers drains the first points for Ole Miss (8-2 BYU)
16:39: Foul on Sharpe, still 8-0 BYU
16:49: Another turnover for Ole Miss
17:36: Fischer's pump fake draws the defender out, and he nails another three! Timeout for the Rebels! Cougars coming out hot! (8-0 BYU)
18:00: Fischer nails one from downtown! (5-0 BYU)
18:34: Great up-and-under from Chase Fischer on the backdoor. Assist from Collinsworth (2-0 BYU)
19:21: Travel on Saiz
We are underway!
Just a reminder that the winner of this game gets the right to play Xavier in the next round.
Tip-off soon between BYU and Ole Miss
Congratulations to Hampton for knocking off Manhattan and earn the right to face number one Kentucky!
Just under ten minutes to go between Manhattan and Hampton here in Dayton, a great game between these 16 seeds with Hampton up three with 9:32 left to play. Should be in for a fantastic finish!
The type of team BYU has faced that Dave Rose compares Ole Miss to: "Their athleticism and length reminds us of San Diego State. But they don’t play with the same pace at all. San Diego State likes to play with more control and they’re a slower paced team. Ole Miss has tremendous balance and they have a scorer who can score really well. Hopefully, we can compete with their athleticism and play fast. We look forward to the challenge.”
Coach Rose on bringing Kyle Collinsworth to the tournament this year: "Right after we lost to Gonzaga (in the WCC finals), a few people asked me, ‘How do you feel walking out of the arena with the same result as last year?’ and I said, ‘I feel a lot better. Kyle walked out of the arena and wasn’t in a wheelchair this time.”
BYU coach Dave Rose on the importance of the early stages of the first half against an unfamiliar opponent: "The first five or eight minutes of a game, that’s when it just feels … free. You don’t really know that team and they don’t really know you as well as (the teams) you’ve played the last 18 to 20 games. I think that’s why both teams look forward to post-season play."
Andy Kennedy on how to beat BYU: “For us, we’ve got to follow our formula and you know what that is. We can’t give them live ball turnovers. We can’t allow them to beat us on the offensive glass and let them get second chance opportunities. We’ve got to run them off the 3-point line. We’ve got to do a good job using our athleticism and size to make them play through us, and if we can do that and manufacture some baskets, it should be an entertaining game.”
More from Coach Kennedy this time on Tyler Haws: "“It’s more than him,” he’s awfully good. Their style is such that they’re going to put pressure on you with four guys on the perimeter all night."
Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy has said in his press conference on BYU's high-tempo offense: "Their pace of play is unlike anything we've seen this season. People think I'm a liberal offensive coach. I'm the most conservative coach you've ever seen compared to the way that BYU runs and shoots quickly. They're truly committed to playing fast.
M.J Rhett, Forward (6.9 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 0.5 APG)
Sebastian Saiz, Forward (7.6 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 0.3 APG)
Ladarius White, Guard (11.2 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 1.2 APG)
Jarvis Summers, Guard (12.4 PPG, 1.8 RPG, 4.6 APG)
Stefan Moody, Guard (16.3 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 2.2 APG)
Projected lineup for the Ole Miss Rebels
Corbin Kaufusi, Center (3.3 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 0.1 APG)
Kyle Collinsworth, Guard (14.0 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 5.8 APG)
Tyler Haws, Guard (21.9 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 2.3 APG)
Chase Fischer, Guard (12.9 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 2.0 APG)
Skylar Halford, Guard (8.7 PPG, 1.8 RPG, 2.3 APG)
Projected starting lineup for the BYU Cougars
The Rebels' last game was a poor showing and a near bubble-damaging defeat in the SEC Tournament to the South Carolina Gamecocks. The game was an offensive struggle for both teams as both sides shot thirty percent from the field. The end of the game brought a wild finish as Jarvis Summers had a four-point play with 3.3 seconds left to put the Rebels up one, but with just seven-tenths of a second remaining, Tyrone Johnson drew contact on with Ladarius White on his three-point attempt earning him three shots at the foul line. Johnson calmly sank all three of them to win it for the Gamecocks, making their opponents play the waiting game. Fortunately, the Rebels did get in and should keep this game close against BYU tonight. This game is set to be a high-scoring affair because both teams score pretty well, but BYU's shooting efficiency may be the deciding factor in this one because if the Cougars shoot well, they are a difficult team to beat.
Just like their opponents tonight, the Rebels do not have a resume that passes the eye test to some people. They opened up their season with a loss to Charleston Southern, and also suffered resume damaging losses to TCU, Western Kentucky, and Vanderbilt and South Carolina at the end of the season. Honestly, one of the best games Ole Miss played this year was their loss 89-86 overtime loss at Kentucky. Stefan Moody dropped 25 points in a fantastic effort, but late-game mistakes haunted them in their mission to halt the Wildcats' pursuit of perfection. They ended up 4-6 against tournament teams other than Kentucky. Their standout wins were at Oregon and at Arkansas, but they suffered close losses on the road against LSU, at Dayton, and at home to Arkansas.
NCAA Tournament Live Scores
The Ole Miss Rebels are coached by Andy Kennedy, and this is his second appearance in the NCAA Tournament in nine seasons. Their last appearance was in 2013 when they defeated Wisconsin as a twelve-seed before falling to thirteenth-seeded La Salle in their second game. This year Kennedy's team went 20-12 overall while going 11-7 in the SEC. The Rebels are known to be one of the best rebounding teams in the country grabbing 38 boards a game which is 38th best in the country. The team has three different players as leading scorer (Stefan Moody), rebounder (Sebastian Saiz), and assister (Jarvis Summers). This team rebounds well because they have five players that average around five boards a game.
The last game the Cougars played was the West Coast Conference Tournament Final against the Zags. The first half was pretty tight as the Cougars kept it close being only down six at halftime, but the Bulldogs went off in the second half, especially ex-Kentucky man Kyle Wiltjier as he went off for a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds in the game. A win in this game is what would have prevented the Cougars from enduring a possible bubble heartbreak on Sunday, but the selection committee showed their faith in them honoring a huge road win at Gonzaga by putting them in the bracket. Should BYU win this game, they could be a tough out for any team and could make a serious run into the Sweet 16 because of their high-powered offense.
BYU Cougars vs. Ole Miss Rebels Live Commentary
BYU's resume isn't one that really that catches the eye. Their best win on the season was a road win at then third-ranked Gonzaga, and this win was probably the difference between them being in the field and being in the NIT. Their home win against Stanford was one they thought would carry some weight as Stanford looked to be a tournament team at that point, but the Cardinal faltered in the PAC-12 making that win look average at best. Other than a home against Gonzaga, the Cougars only played three other tournament teams, San Diego State and Purdue in the Maui Invitational and Utah. BYU suffered heartbreaking losses to both squads as San Diego State knocked them off in double overtime 92-87, and Purdue's A.J Hammons knocked in a jump hook to win it for the Boilermakers. Utah's stingy defense kept their in-state rivals from putting up many points on the board winning by four in Provo. Their resume also includes some very poor losses as well, getting swept by Pepperdine and a loss to San Diego.
The BYU Cougars are coached by Dave Rose, and they are making their eighth appearance in ten seasons with him at the helm. Their best result under him in the NCAA Tournament was when they made the Sweet Sixteen four years ago with Jimmer Fredette on the squad. This year the team went 25-9 overall and 13-5 in the West Coast Conference. BYU was second in the nation in points per game scoring 83.6 points per game just behind Northwestern State and are also one of the nation's top rebounding and assisting teams as they are top fifteen in both of those categories. The team is led by their two guards, senior Tyler Haws and junior Kyle Collinsworth. Haws is the team's leading scorer averaging 22 points a game, and Collinsworth holds the NCAA with six triple-doubles in a season, which is also the record for triple-doubles in a career. Collinsworth has shown he can get it done on both sides of the floor with 14 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals a night.
BYU - Ole Miss College Basketball NCAA Tournament Round Results
Tonight, the NCAA Tournament kicks off with first round play-in games in Dayton, Ohio. This matchup is between the BYU Cougars and the Ole Miss Rebels. The winner of this matchup gets the right to face sixth-seeded Xavier in Jacksonville. This game is going to be the second game contested tomorrow after Manhattan and Hampton face off for the right to face top-seeded Kentucky. I am Noel John Alberto, and I will be doing the live coverage tonight for VAVEL USA. Gametime tip-off is estimated to be around 9:10 EST.