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SALT LAKE CITY — Vintage Jimmer showed up Friday evening in The Basketball Tournament.
Former BYU star Jimmer Fredette poured in 41 points for his namesake squad to lead Team Fredette to a 104-91 win over Fort Wayne Champs in the Super 16 of the $2 million, winner-take-all TBT at Georgia State University in Atlanta.
After last year’s first-round flameout as coach of his team, Fredette was just glad to be back in a uniform and playing with former teammates like Brandon Davies and Charles Abouo.
"I'm definitely a player, not a coach yet," said Fredette, who averaged a tournament-best 31 points in the first two games before Friday’s six 3-pointer effort. "I want to be able to do it, have it in my own hands. I feel more comfortable this year."
Former Idaho standout Jeff Ledbetter added 17 points for Team Fredette, who advanced to face Greg Oden and Aaron Craft-led Ohio State alumni squad Scarlet & Gray at 1 p.m. MT Sunday on ESPN.
Davies finished with 11 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals, and Jordan Crawford added 11 points and six assists for Team Fredette.
Julian Mavunga scored a team-high 23 points for Fort Wayne.
Fort Wayne rolled through the first quarter, holding Fredette scoreless and taking a 34-20 lead on the back of Julian Mavunga.
But Ledbetter was just getting started.
📰: @jimmerfredette poured in 41 points to lead Team Fredette by Fort Wayne, 104-91 in @thetournament.
— KSL SportsBeat (@kslsports) July 28, 2018
(📽️ via ESPN) https://t.co/U2oivgMHh2pic.twitter.com/juRzI4HF4v
Ledbetter drained his second three of the quarter to erase the Champs' early advantage with a 16-3 run and pull Team Fredette within two, 37-35 with 6 minutes left in the half.
"When you're shooting the ball well, it spaces the ball well and helps the guys out," Fredette told ESPN. "All the credit to Jeff tonight; he was huge in the second and third quarter."
The spark set up Fredette’s back-to-back 3-pointers to give Team Fredette a 41-37 edge with five minutes to spare.
Mavunga's fourth three of the game gave Fort Wayne a 46-44 advantage in a back-and-forth second quarter that ended with Team Fredette owning a 55-53 edge.
"We just played our brand of basketball," Fredette said. "We got stops, we rebounded, and we got out and made some threes.
"It was just a fun game, especially in the second half."
Fredette had 16 points and four rebounds in the first half — all of them in the second quarter — to lead Team Fredette. Ledbetter added 11 first-half points, including three 3-pointers for Team Fredette, which forced 10 turnovers.
That style of turnovers — and a couple of swats by Davies — helped Team Fredette turn its 14-point first-quarter deficit into a 17-point advantage, 89-72 to start the fourth.
By the time the target score of 104 points had been set by the tournament’s acclaimed Elam Ending, Team Fredette revved out to a 97-84 lead.
Jimmer Fredette didn’t score the rest of the way — but Crawford’s 3-pointer from the right wing gave his squad the win to move into the final eight.
Cool transaction
Team Fredette added former Utah Jazz post Jack Cooley prior to the Super 16 matchup with Fort Wayne. The Notre Dame product who played 16 games with the Jazz in 2014-16 recently signed a one-year contract to play with Italian club Dinamo Sassari for the 2018-19 season.
Cooley finished with eight points and three rebounds for Team Fredette.
