Colorado had no answer for Baylor’s Brady Heslip.
Heslip hit nine 3-pointers and finished with 27 points as No. 3 Baylor knocked off No. 11 Colorado 80-63 in the third round of the NCAA tournament in The Pit.
The Buffaloes were winning 57-56 with 9:39 remaining, when Baylor went on a 24-to-7 run to close out the game.
Baylor head coach Scott Drew said the run to close out the game was crucial to the victory.
“I was very proud of the second half, especially the last 10 minutes, how we clamped down on the defensive end,” he said. “Brady was absolutely on fire, but his teammates did a great job getting him the ball.”
After upsetting No. 6 University of Nevada-Las Vegas on Thursday, Colorado came out with the same intensity but couldn’t account for Heslip, who had 18 in the half.
Baylor took the lead within two minutes and pushed it all the way to eight.
Colorado closed the gap to just two and the Bears took a 37-35 lead into half.
“Nobody wanted to go home today. We played like that in the second half,” Heslip said.
Baylor took its lead to six in the first five minutes of the second half, but Colorado came back.
The Buffaloes took a two-point lead, the first since 1:01 into the contest, by means of a layup from Carlon Brown with 12:17 left.
Colorado would only score 10 points the rest of the game.
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With 7:31 left, Baylor went on a 17-3 run to close out the contest. The run was aided by four straight 3-pointers two by Heslip.
Heslip had a game high of 27 points and was 9-12 from behind the arc. The only other player in double figures for the Bears was Pierre Jackson with 14.
Helsip said his great shooting was due to his teammates’ finding him open.
“When they make passes that are on target and on time, it’s easy for me,” he said. “Especially if I am in rhythm and feeling good shooting.”
Colorado had four players in double figures, with Askia Booker leading the team with 15 off the bench.
There were only 15 turnovers in the game, eight by CU and seven by Baylor.
Baylor was 28-64 shooting compared to the Buffaloes’ 23-51.
The Bears now play No. 10 Xavier.
Baylor is just one of two teams left from the Big 12 in the tournament and Ryan said they will fight hard for their conference to be recognized.
“We’re going to work as hard as we can, not only for Baylor University, but for the Big 12,” he said.
