Through three games of The Basketball Tournament, a $2 million winner-take-all event, Team Fredette’s strategy has stayed the same: Fall behind by double-digits early, then let former BYU star Jimmer Fredette take over.
That happened again Friday night, as Fredette poured in all 41 of his points in the final three quarters and led Team Fredette to a 104-91 win over the Fort Wayne (Ind.) Champs in a Super 16 game at Georgia State University in Atlanta.
Second-seeded Team Fredette will meet the winner of No. 1 seed Scarlet and Gray (Ohio State products) and No. 12 Prime Time Players on Sunday in a quarterfinal game at 1 p.m. on ESPN.
Fredette, who scored 62 points in his team’s first two games, scored 25 points in the second half alone Friday. He was 13 of 21 from the field and 9 of 10 from the free-throw line — after having made 22 of 22 free throws in first- and second-round wins.
Team Fredette trailed 34-20 at the end of the first quarter before Fredette and Idaho product Jeff Ledbetter heated up. Ledbetter finished with 17 points.
“We just played our brand of basketball,” Fredette said. “We got stops, we rebounded, and we got out in transition for easy basketball. We were making our threes, moving the ball. When you got guys who are big and can make buckets, it opens everything up for me, and guys like Jeff that shot the ball great tonight. It was just a fun game, especially in the second half.”
Jordon Crawford, Fredette’s former teammate with the Westchester (N.Y.) Knicks of the G League, ended the game with a 3-pointer.
Former BYU stars Brandon Davies and Charles Abuou contributed to Team Fredette’s win, especially Davies, who made a nifty putback after a rare missed 3-pointer by Fredette to spur a run in the third quarter.
Team Fredette led 97-84 when the Elam Ending went into effect the first time the clock was stopped under the four-minute mark in the fourth quarter.
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