SOUTH REGION

Acy powers Baylor past Xavier

Baylor 75, Xavier 70 Baylor forward Quincy Acy (right) fouls Xavier forward Kenny Frease during the first half of their NCAA South Regional semifinal game Friday at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Frease scored 18 points for the Musketeers, but Acy’s two free throws with 31 seconds left helped send the Bears into the Elite Eight. Acy, the only senior in Baylor’s starting lineup, finished with 20 points and 15 rebounds.
Baylor 75, Xavier 70 Baylor forward Quincy Acy (right) fouls Xavier forward Kenny Frease during the first half of their NCAA South Regional semifinal game Friday at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Frease scored 18 points for the Musketeers, but Acy’s two free throws with 31 seconds left helped send the Bears into the Elite Eight. Acy, the only senior in Baylor’s starting lineup, finished with 20 points and 15 rebounds.

— Quincy Acy picked up the slack for his roommate to help push Baylor to another regional final.

The 6-7 senior had 20 points and 15 rebounds on an off night for the sharpshooting Brady Heslip as the Bears moved their attack inside to beat Xavier 75-70 Friday in a NCAA Tournament South Regional semifinal.

“I think I got a little of that magic from him,” Acy said.

The Baylor post players were not double-teamed most of the game and Acy took advantage of it. Perry Jones III added 14 points for Baylor, which advanced to the its second regional final in three years.

“You stay with Brady, that means we’re one-on-one down in the post, and you see what happens,” Baylor Coach Scott Drew said.

Heslip, coming off his career-high 27 points on nine three-pointers in Baylor’s second-round victory over Colorado, made only one against Xavier. He finished with 11 points.

But Acy had his back, throwing down several dunks and added a few jump shots that surprised Xavier Coach Chris Mack.

“He’s a cage-rattler,” said Mack of Acy. “We knew that. ... I never saw him hit a 15-foot jump shot, and he does that in the first four minutes of the game.”

Acy made 8 of 11 shots from the field and each of his four free throws, including two with 31 seconds remaining after Xavier cut the Bears’ lead to six points.

Acy, Baylor’s only starting senior, has his second chance to help the Bears win a regional final. Baylor also won three NCAA Tournament games in 2010 before losing to eventual national champion Duke.

“We’re just looking forward to go a little farther and make a little history,” Acy said.

Drew said it never gets old watching Acy play.

“Baylor fans have been blessed, the nation’s been blessed, and he is a better person than a player,” Drew said.

Baylor, wearing bright neon-green uniforms, led by 18 points less than 8 minutes into the game.

Xavier played from behind all night, but never quit. The Musketeers cut the lead to 71-68 with 22 seconds remaining.

“Down the stretch there, we made it a little closer than it needed to be with some careless turnovers, but credit them for not giving up and fighting through,” Drew said of Xavier.

Pierre Jackson had 16 points and 10 assists for Baylor.

Tu Holloway led Xavier with 22 points.

Xavier was hurt by poor shooting, especially from beyond the arc. The Musketeers were 0 for 11 on three-pointers before Justin Martin ended the drought with 2:00 remaining. He added another threepointer 40 seconds later, and Holloway’s three-pointer with 22 seconds remaining cut the lead to 71-68.

Heslip’s four free throws in the final 17 seconds protected the lead.

Xavier (23-13) couldn’t advance after making the round of 16 for the fourth time in five years.

Kenny Frease had 18 points and Mark Lyons had 16 for the Musketeers.

KENTUCKY 102, INDIANA 90

ATLANTA — Anthony Davis had a rather quiet night. No worries. He’s got plenty of help at Kentucky.

The top-seeded Wildcats took care of the team that beat them back in early December and are off to another regional final, beating Indiana.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist scored 24 points with 10 rebounds and four other players scored at least 10 points for Kentucky (35-2), which made up for a 73-72 loss back in early December.

Davis, the Wildcats’ freshman star, wasn’t a huge factor after picking up two early fouls, finishing with nine points and 12 rebounds. Doron Lamb had 21 points, Darius Miller 19, Marquis Teague 14 and Terrence Jones 12.

Christian Watford had 27 points to lead the Hoosiers (27-9), whose comeback season ended two victories shy of the Final Four.

Kentucky will face Baylor on Sunday for a trip to the Final Four.

Indiana fresman Cody Zeller had 20 points, while Victor Oladipo added 15 before fouling out.

Sports, Pages 20 on 03/24/2012

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