BYU Shocks Iona, 78-72, Dances Into Second Round
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Gregory Shamus/Getty Images(DAYTON, Ohio) — BYU (26-8) had a comeback for the ages on Tuesday night in Dayton Arena.
Trailing by 25 points at one point in the first half, Noah Harstock made sure his team would continue dancing; scoring 16 of his 23 points in the second half, leading the Cougars to a 78-72 win over Iona (25-8).
The comeback marked the largest one in an NCAA tournament game, the organization said. The previous one was in 2001 when Duke overcame a 22-point deficit to beat Maryland 95-84 in the national semifinals.
Cougar guard Brock Zylstra capped the comeback off when he nailed a layup with 23 seconds left to play to make it 75-70.
“We just were more aggressive,” Zylstra said. “We were doing to them what they were doing to us in the first half.”
“It’s going to be one that we have to live with the rest of our lives,” Iona coach Tim Cluess said. “It’s a tough one we let get away. No excuses.”
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