NEW ORLEANS -- The No. 3 seeded BYU Cougars looked like they might be able to fight hard enough to take the win against the No. 2 seeded Florida Gators, but a season of physical play finally wore them down. Without depth they simply could not muster up enough strength to get past the Gators in overtime.

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From small town beginnings playing basketball against prison inmates, to his name evolving into verbs and adjectives, Fredette took the Cougars to new heights.

"It was just about guys making plays," BYU head coach Dave Rose said after the Cougars' 83-74 overtime loss. "They made a few more plays than we did at the end, but I was really proud of how our players competed. I thought that it was a game where either team could have won right at the end, and it got into overtime. And their overtime looked like they had a little more to finish the game than we did."

The game was very physical and at times seemed to be getting to the Cougars. At one point Jimmer Fredette was tripped and busted his chin on the floor. No foul was called.

"Sometimes you've got to play through everything," Fredette said. "Both teams had times where they had to play through calls, and it wasn't anything bad. It was just a little, maybe frustration, just because that's what happens sometimes during basketball games. But I tried to keep an even keel, and we were still right in there at the end of the game. We just didn't win."

Although it was a tough way to end their season, the 2010-11 basketball season will be remembered for years to come.

It was the season that the nation fell in love with the point guard from BYU with a funny name, the season that he broke pretty much every scoring record at BYU. It was the season the Cougars won more games than any team in school history. It was the season that the team lost two forwards but somehow found the depth to win games against teams with bigger players.

"There's so many goals that you set as a team before the season starts, and probably your biggest goal is to qualify for the NCAA Tournament and then advance in that tournament," Rose said. "We were able to advance twice and came pretty close to advancing the third time. That will probably feel better later, because it's tough to -- I told the guys that the toughest thing for us as coaches is that we don't get a chance to bounce back from this."

Rose will use this as motivation to further improve his team. After losing one of the best players ever to wear a BYU jersey, you would think the future is looking grim, but there's much too look forward to for BYU.

Next year BYU will be led by veterans Noah Hartsock and Charles Abouo. Their weakness this season in the post will become a strength. Chris Collinsworth will return after a year of recovery from his injury. There is a possibility that Brandon Davies will find his way back on the court, and two 6-foot 10-inch returned missionaries, Nate Austin and Ian Harward, will play their first seasons for BYU. Highly touted transfer student Matt Carlino will also lead the Cougars next winter at point guard.

Email: mhopkins@ksl.com

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