UConn's Kemba Walker was announced the winner of Bob Cousy Award, given annually by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the nation’s top point guard.

Walker beat out Jimmer Fredette of BYU and Nolan Smith of Duke among others for the award, which is given out by the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.

“I am thrilled that Kemba has been named the winner of the Bob Cousy Award. He is having one of the great seasons ever in college basketball history,” UConn coach Jim Calhoun said in a statement. “Beyond the stats, game-winning shots and accolades, he epitomizes the leadership that a great point guard must have and what he has done to lead our young team to a Big East Championship and to a spot in the Final Four has been unforgettable.”

Walker is averaging 23.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.9 steals per game.

Senior guards Jimmer Fredette of BYU and Nolan Smith of Duke are the leading vote-getters on The Associated Press All-America team.

Freshman Jared Sullinger of Ohio State, junior guard Kemba Walker of Connecticut and senior forward JaJuan Johnson of Purdue also are on the team announced Monday.

Fredette, the nation's leading scorer, received all but one of 65 votes from the national media panel that selects the Top 25. Smith, who led the Blue Devils to a No. 1 ranking for 10 weeks this season, got 61 votes.

When Jimmer Fredette makes shots, his defense — or lack thereof — isn't nearly as much of a factor.

You can live with — or without — it.

But on Thursday night, when the shots just weren't falling, he needed to give his team more.

He could ill-afford to be a liability on that “other” end of the floor.

“Coach (Billy Donovan) said that whoever he's on, exploit him,” Florida guard Kenny Boynton  said after the game.

That's exactly what happened.

Florida was able to take advantage of Fredette throughout the game, whether it was when BYU was stuck in its 2-3 zone or forced to go man-to-man after the Gators connected on some perimeter shots.

“He doesn't really pay attention to defense,” Boynton added. “There's a couple of guys like that we've gone up against. But with them (BYU), it's harder to tell because they usually sit back in the zone.”

Jimmer Fredette needed 29 shots to score 32 points against Florida as the Gators escaped with an 83-74 victory in overtime Thursday. Florida was relentless in defending ball screens and challenging open looks.

“Fredette has seen a lot of defenses and can make a lot of shots,” Florida coach Billy Donovan said. “The biggest thing with him is that he gets fouled a lot. He sells ball fakes and draws contact. The key in defending him was that nobody jumped — we never left our feet.”

BYU sank only 30 percent of its shots in the second half and 35 percent for the game and was 0-for-4 from three-point range in overtime.

“They were really hedging hard on those ball screens,” Fredette said. “I didn’t shoot the ball great, but credit to their defense. We had chances and we fought, but I just didn’t make shots at the end.”

There are several ways to defend the pick-and-roll. Florida’s strategy against BYU could go a long way toward determining whether the Gators advance to the next round.

BYU has started to use the pick-and-roll with much greater frequency, going so far as to set picks as soon as Jimmer Fredette crosses halfcourt. Matt Giles notes that Fredette relies on a pick for more than 20 percent of his offensive possessions, and roughly three-quarters of BYU's pick-and-rolls start well beyond the 3-point arc. Setting a pick that high allows Fredette to create a kind of 4-on-3 "break," which creates something of a dilemma for the Gators.

A soft hedge will give Fredette enough separation to fire away from three, while a hard hedge would free whomever sets the pick.

Fredette primary pick-and-roll partner, Noah Hartsock, is the most efficient spot-up forward on the squad, producing 1.17 points per possession.

Jimmer Fredette is generally considered offensively gifted, defensively challenged and destined to be a solid rotation player in the N.B.A.

Stardom, however, is unlikely, the scouts and front-office personnel said. Comparative players that came up were Jeff Hornacek, Steve Kerr, Kyle Korver and Jason Kapono.

“I think he’ll be a really good pro, but not great,” said a Western Conference executive, who would not be named because he is not permitted to talk about prospects. “He’ll be a guy who is a better Steve Kerr, a better Kyle Korver. A better Kapono. Both those guys can’t put the ball on the floor.”

The B.Y.U. strength coach, Justin McClure, said he expected Fredette to test well in the physical drills. He said Fredette has a vertical jump of 36 inches, can bench-press 265 pounds and should be able to lift 185 pounds 9 or 10 times.

“I think he surprised people with that,” McClure said. “He’s a lot quicker and more agile than people give him credit for.”

With both BYU and San Diego State advancing to the Sweet Sixteen, the Mountain West Conference will distribute $1.7 million per year to its league members over the next six years.

“It gives us more money for the future,” said Chuck Lang, SDSU’s associate athletic director for business administration. “We have those shares for the next six years. That’s a good place to start.”

Each tournament game a team plays – excluding the championship – is worth at least $240,000 annually for that team’s league over a rolling six-year period, according to the NCAA’s distribution formula. With at least seven tournament games this year, the MWC will receive at least $1.7 million from this year’s bracket from 2011 through 2016.

The NCAA money comes from television and other sources, with the value of each game expected to grow annually. It’s a relative windfall for the MWC.

Of the $180.5 million in Division I basketball funds to be distributed this year, 63 percent goes to the six power conferences: the Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10, Southeastern and Atlantic Coast.

Florida shooting guard Kenny Boynton’s primary defensive assignment will be guarding Jimmer Fredette.

But to conserve Boynton’s energy, the Gators will resort to defense by committee, with Scottie Wilbekin and Casey Prather, two freshmen who have shown a knack for defense, rotating in on Fredette.

That should take some pressure off Boynton, the team's second-leading scorer and best defender, and keep him fresh on both ends of the court.

"I really felt like last year, because of our lack of depth, I thought (Boynton) got worn out as he started to get into that into the first overtime, then second overtime," Donovan said. "I just don't think it can be one guy. Now there's going to be some possessions and some plays in the game where whoever's on him, they're going to be on an island by themselves. That's gonna happen."

Fredette scored 37 points against Florida in the opening round last year, leading the Cougars to a 99-92 win in double overtime.

San Diego State will try to apply what worked against Jimmer Fredette against UConn's Kemba Walker.

“Hopefully,” Fisher said, “(that) will help us a little bit in terms of an initial thought process.”

The Aztecs can put size on Walker with 6-8 Billy White or 6-7 Kawhi Leonard. Plus, they possess a level of defensive sophistication that allows them to absorb game plans and make subtle tactical adjustments on the fly.

San Diego State has a half-dozen ways to defend ball screens in their man-to-man, from a simple switch to a hard double-team to less aggressively “corralling” the dribbler.

“You have to do a lot of different things against Walker on the ball screens, and not hang your hat on any one thing,” said TV analyst and former college coach Bill Raftery, who has worked several UConn games this season and will call Thursday’s for CBS. “What works one time might not work the next. Great players find ways. You just have to make them work for everything they get.”

BYU coach Dave Rose may just be about as much about the right frame of mind as it's been about making shots and playing defense.

"We talk about a lot of things as a team, and we try to keep it there with our group. But your mindset going into a game, and your approach to that, I think can really determine how you execute," Rose said Monday, a day before his team would leave for New Orleans to play as the No. 3 seed in the Southeast regional against No. 2 Florida. "If you believe that all the pressure is on you, sometimes that can cause you to tighten up a little bit.

"I hope our players understand this challenge. I think they do understand it, and respect the challenge. But I also hope they go in believing in themselves and the team, and their ability to win games," Rose added.

Rose says that he's a "completely different" coach after a cancer scare a few years ago. He appreciates the journey more and has imparted that wisdom onto his players.