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Heslip's hot shooting advances Baylor

Mar 18, 2012 - 6:40 AM Albuquerque, NM (Sports Network) - Brady Heslip made nine three-pointers for a career-high 27 points and Baylor defeated Colorado, 80-63, in the third round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.

Heslip only missed four shots and Pierre Jackson added 15 points and 10 assists for the third-seeded Bears (29-7), who advanced to their second Sweet 16 in program history. They defeated South Dakota State in the second round and will face the winner between 10th-seeded Xavier/15th-seeded Lehigh in Friday's South Regional semifinal in Atlanta.

"Brady was obviously on fire, but his teammates did a great job getting him the ball," said Baylor coach Scott Drew.

Askia Booker scored 15 points to pace the 11th-seeded Buffaloes (24-12), who had advanced to the third round with an upset of No. 6 seed UNLV on Thursday. Austin Dufault had 14 points in Saturday's setback while Carlon Brown and Andre Roberson both finished with 13.

"I thought we did the best we could," said Brown. "Obviously, it wasn't good enough. Once (Heslip) got going, it was almost impossible to stop."

Colorado briefly led in the second half, using a 12-4 run to establish its first advantage since the game's opening minutes.

Booker had six points during the burst, Dufault had four, and Brown capped it with a leaping putback layup for a 53-51 lead near the midway point.

While that run shifted momentum, the Bears' 21-3 surge minutes later proved overwhelmingly decisive.

It was 57-54 in favor of the Buffaloes when Jackson knocked down a jumper, triggering a spurt which featured four straight Baylor three-pointers -- two from Heslip, one apiece from Jackson and Anthony Jones.

The run resulted in a 75-60 Baylor advantage and although 4 1/2 minutes remained, Colorado never recovered, allowing the Bears to notch their program- record 29th win of the season.

"I was very proud of the second half, and especially the last ten minutes how we clamped down on the defensive end, really did a great job rebounding," Drew said.

Heslip was equally strong in the first half, hitting six threes en route to a 37-35 lead at the break.

Game Notes

Baylor's previous season-high win total was 28 in 2009-10...The Bears' No. 3 seed is tied for the highest in program history. In 2010 they were seeded third in the South Region and advanced to the Elite Eight...Colorado leads the all-time series with Baylor, 15-10.