Fredette remembers 'The Steal'

ALBUQUERQUE — It will be remembered as The Steal.

It is a play by then BYU freshman Jimmer Fredette back on Feb. 25, 2008, in New Mexico's famed Pit.

He should have been scared or more than intimidated. A young guy with expected jitters, playing on a big stage like that, should have backed down.

But as has been a trademark of Fredette since he settled in Provo from the state of New York, the kid just boldly stuck his hands in the dribble of Lobo Jamaal Smith and came up with The Steal.

That play, which took place with 20 seconds left in last year's Cougar win over the Lobos in The Pit, set the stage for BYU control of the MWC conference race after a loss on the road at San Diego State placed Dave Rose's squad in a delicate situation with second-place UNLV.

On that night, Fredette made his share of mistakes. He wasn't perfect by any means. But when he got the call to replace starting point guard Ben Murdock, he didn't shrink away under those bright lights with Lobo fans screaming their lungs out.

The Lobos had the ball and were positioning for a last shot on the final possession of the game.

Smith brought the ball up and was taking his time, waiting for the clock to tick down so the Lobos could run a play and get off a good shot to break the tie and get a game-winner.

Fredette spoke about The Steal after Thursday's practice session in the Marriott Center.

When asked, he got a big smile on his face. It was a moment comfortably etched in his mind, since it happened 13 months ago here.

Murdock injured his ankle moments into the second half and Fredette ended up taking his minutes at the point. Star Lee Cummard had fouled out in the second half and co-player of the league J.R. Giddens was twisting his way to 30 points.

"I just remember in the huddle during a timeout, they wanted us to get a stop," said Fredette.

"I was out there and he (Smith) was dribbling out there trying to get the last shot. I was up on him and he went to make a move between his legs with the ball and I thought I'd take a stab at the ball. It got it."

While the partisan masses in The Pit were stunned into silence, Fredette wrestled to get to the ball and control it in back court near BYU's bench and the official scorer's table. Once he got it, he noticed another freshman, Chris Collinsworth, streaking toward the basket and he tried to get the ball to Collinsworth.

"He would have had a slam dunk for sure," said Fredette.