BYE-ONA:Randy Dezouvre watches the closing minutes of Iona’s devastating first-round loss to BYU. (Getty Images)
DAYTON, Ohio — The Iona Gaels came into last night’s first-round NCAA tournament game hoping to prove they were worthy of their at-large bid, and hoping to show they had learned from some gut-wrenching implosions. What they ended up with was the worst collapse in NCAA history, a 78-72 loss to the BYU Cougars.
The Gaels ran out to a 25-point lead in the first half, only to completely capitulate in the second. BYU moves on to Louisville and face third-seeded Marquette in the West Region, while the Gaels (25-8) must trudge back to New Rochelle to wonder how their moment on the national stage — their first NCAA tourney since 2006 — could’ve gone so wrong?
“It [stinks]. It [stinks],’’ said Iona senior point guard Scott Machado, who had 15 points and 10 assists — but just one assist in the second half when BYU went to a zone defense and the Gaels were outscored 38-17. “When we’re trying win a game like this, we have to make the little things happen. We have to make those [layups] go down.’’
Iona had blown a 17-point lead vs. Manhattan on Jan. 12, losing 75-72. And it had squandered an 18-point cushion against Siena just 11 days later, falling 65-62. But last night was the pièce de résistance, the first 25-point lead ever blown in the long history of the Big Dance.
Iona led 49-24 with 6:12 left in the first half and 55-31 with 4:34 left, and seemed on the verge of running BYU (26-8) out of the gym. But the Cougars cut the lead to 55-40 by intermission, slowed the game down and used Noah Hartsock (game-high 23 points) and Brandon Davies (18 points, 15 rebounds) to take over in the second half.
“It’s going to be one we have to live with the rest of our lives,’’ said Iona coach Tim Cluess. “You’re looking for answers out there, looking for guys to make a play. This is one we have to live with, one that got away. No excuses, I’m taking the blame.’’
After scoring 55 points in less than 16 minutes, Iona had just seven points in the next 16 1/2 minutes.
Maryland’s 22-point collapse against Duke in the 2001 Final Four had been the biggest comeback in NCAA tournament history; the Gaels’ implosion in the First Four now tops the Terps. President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron left their front-row seats too early to see Iona’s demise after witnessing Mississippi Valley State blow a 16-point lead over the final five minutes in its loss to Western Kentucky.
After being forced to sit outside in their team bus for 30 minutes before they were allowed in because of the Secret Service, the Gaels — who came in with the nation’s highest-scoring offense — used a 15-0 spurt to take a 28-10 lead, hitting 13 of their first 19 shots as BYU ran and played right into their hands.
It was 55-31 when BYU started to figure Iona out. After Iona forward Mike Glover left the game with his second foul and a slight knock on his knee, the Gaels didn’t score for the rest of the half.
BYU pulled freshman point guard Matt Carlino and started pounding the ball inside to Davies and Hartsock, the latter scoring 16 in the second half to nearly match Iona by himself. He stepped out and drilled a huge 3-pointer to put BYU ahead 71-70, the Cougars’ first lead of the game.
Iona committed a shot-clock violation with 1:46 to play, and Davies’ free throws put the Cougars up 73-70 with 45 seconds left. After Hartsock’s block of Taaj Ridley led to a fast break, Brock Zylstra finished it with a three-point play and 76-70 lead.
The clock read :23.1, but the game was over. And it was a finish Gaels fans have come to know all too well.