DAYTON — Facing a 25-point deficit against Iona, First Four BYU embraced the madness Tuesday night and made the largest comeback in NCAA Tournament history.

With two large comebacks in one night, the University of Dayton Arena seemed to be the perfect lab to create the fixer for a month of madness. Before the Cougs’ 78- 72 win, Western Kentucky rallied from a 16-point deficit against Missouri Valley State.

Reminiscent of the dance marathons in the 1930s and 1940s BYU refused to stop dancing until the last buzzer sounded. While the Cougs were quickly left behind by the fast pace of Iona at the beginning of the game, BYU eventually closed the gap and force Iona to follow its lead.

According to BYU head coach Dave Rose the Cougs’ ability to eventually catch up came from the painful lessons they had to endure in the first half.

“The first 15 minutes of that game was really fast paced and Iona was really good,” Rose said. “It was hard for us to even catch them. They were really active defensively. They were good after we made baskets. They raced it back and scored. We had to make some real adjustments defensively in those first 15 minutes and it didn’t really pay off until later.”

With the Cougars down by 15 at the half, Rose spent time in the locker room directing his players through the blurry smear of the first half.

“Coach Rose talked about at halftime that that 15- point lead wasn’t safe, whether we were up 15 or they were up 15,” BYU forward Noah Hartsock said. “(He told us) that with the style of the game being played that a comeback could happen. And we just focused on chipping it down.”

Coming into the second half with a stronger zone defense, the Cougs put Iona first-half star Scott Machado to a complete standstill. Having nine assists in the first half and then only one in the second, BYU blocked all windows at the arc for Iona.

“(Hartsock) was shooting right over us,” Machado said. “His length was just hard to guard. When we’re not making shots we can’t pass it. We can’t do what we did in the first half so it messed up our whole game plan.”

Cougar Tracks:

As good as it gets, and now, it's Marquette

Less than 24 hours after pulling off the biggest comeback in NCAA Tournament history, the BYU Cougars were in Louisville, preparing for their Second Round meeting with Marquette.

Facing complete darkness at the three, the smaller Gaels were forced to uncomfortably shoot from inside.

“When we’re not making shots (at the three) we’re not the same type of team,” Iona head coach Tim Cluess said.

And while the Cougars’ improved D put a halt to the Gaels’ jive, the Cougars also had a lineup makeover.

Freshman Damarcus Harrison’s career-high 12 points greatly contributed the Cougs’ ability to set a new tournament record turnaround.

With the placement of starter Matt Carlino on the bench and Harrison on the court, the Cougs’ increased defensive rebounds were paying off on the scoreboard with returned offensive shots.

Rose said that the simple break was all his young talent needed to prepare for the big games.

“A lot of times you get so caught up in preparing for the next game that practices are difficult especially for young players,” Rose said. “(During the break) Damarcus had really good practices early and then the last three practices he was one of the best guys on the floor. I think his confidence really grew. He stepped up in a really big time atmosphere and a lot of that has to do with preparation.”

There’s no doubt that the Cogs have tough road ahead with their Thursday match-up against three-seed Marquette, but for at least a few minutes after Tuesday’s game the Cougs simply basked in their accomplishment.

When BYU wing guard Brock Zylstra, who scored the shot to cap the biggest comeback in NCAA Tournament history, was asked if Tuesday’s game was the highlight of his career, quickly responded with:

“Oh yeah. Even last year going to the Sweet Sixteen was awesome but this right now is," he said. "Comebacks are so intense, it’s pretty incredible.”

Following a historic season of Jimmermania, Rose once again found himself coaching a team that could defy the history books.

“I don’t think anyone of us, especially our coaching staff or our players, doubted the fact that we could chip into that lead,” Rose said. “When we got that thing down to 10 and then got a big steal and got to seven and they called time out. The look in our players eyes was ‘game on.’”

While defying the history books was nice for one night, Senior captain Hartsock sees a greater lesson from Tuesday’s game – a lesson that they hope to remember much earlier on against Marquette on Thursday.

“We started getting our hands on loose balls and tipping it,” Hartsock said. “We started getting that momentum and confidence. That’s what really helped us make those runs and we were just being really aggressive as a team. When we get in that mode we become a team that’s hard to stop.”

Karissa Urry is a Brigham Young University student majoring in Public Relations and minoring in Business Management. Follow her on Twitter @KarissaEUrry

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