The Sweet 16 game between the 3-seed Baylor and the 10-seed Xavier started with Baylor leading 12-2. At that point, it looked as though Baylor was on pace for a blowout.  If you have watched Xavier all season long, you know that they are the comeback kids. Unfortunately tonight, the Musketeers did not have enough to fully make the comeback, as they lost 75-70.

When Xavier was making their comeback in the first half, they were consistently getting the ball inside to Kenny Frease (he had 12 first half points).

In the second half, Xavier used their guard combination of Tu Holloway and Marc Lyons to get back in the game. However Lyons also made some bad decisions, which led to Baylor increasing their lead late.

Xavier was down nine points with about a minute and a half to go, but Baylor was sloppy getting the ball inbounds and Xavier capitalized to cut the deficit to three points.

Brady Heslip, who was non-existent from early in the first half on, sealed it for the Bears with four made free throws.

What eventually did Xavier in was that they couldn’t make a shot from the outside. They made just 3-of-15, two coming from Justin Martin off the bench.

Quincy Acy lived up to his reputation as a dunker. He scored 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting, with most of those makes coming via the dunk. He also had 15 rebounds. Pierre Jackson also contributed a double-double with 16 points and ten assists. Perry Jones III, who had been quiet so far in the tournament, scored 19 points. Six of those points came in about a two minute span in the second half.

For Xavier, they were led by seniors Frease and Holloway. Frease scored 18 points and Holloway scored 22 points. Lyons also contributed 16 points.

*Baylor and their highlighter yellow uniforms will face the winner of Kentucky-Indiana on Sunday.

Xaxier is the lone A-10 team still alive (outside of UMass in the NIT) and they have used furious comebacks to be victorious in their two NCAA Tournament games so far. They have reached the Sweet 16 three out of the last four years and senior big man Kenny Frease doesn’t know why they lose when they get there. “We can’t just be happy to be there,” he said in a postgame interview following the win over Lehigh.

In the Sweet 16, the Musketeers will be facing Baylor and their highlighter yellow uniforms (which makes them tough to watch). The Bears are very athletic but very hard to figure out. In their two NCAA Tournament wins, Baylor had little offensive help from their big men. It had been all guard play, especially from sharp-shooter Brady Heslip (44 points on 14-of-22 shooting from beyond the arc). On the season, Heslip is a 43.8% shooter from downtown.

I believe the winner of this game will have the most production from the bigs because both teams have good guard play (Heslip and Pierre Jackson for Baylor and Tu Holloway and Marc Lyons for Xavier). Xavier big man Kenny Frease put together a career night in their win over Lehigh. The senior will need another night like that against Baylor (and he will need to stay out of foul trouble). But Frease needs some help from guys like Andre Walker, Justin Martin, and Jeff Robinson, who are more athletic and may be able to contain the bigs for Baylor.

Will Perry Jones III please step up? He has been non-existent for Baylor in the tournament (just nine total points), but he will need to show up for the Bears to advance. During the regular season, Jones averaged 13.6 points per game and 7.8 rebounds a game.

Dez Wells could be the x-factor for the Musketeers if he is healthy. He injured his big toe and only played eight minutes against Lehigh. He has yet to practice, but he plans on playing Friday night. Wells is the Musketeers third-leading scorer.

You can catch the game live on CBS at 7:15pm ET on Friday (if your eyes can handle the brightness).

*Check out transcripts from the Xavier and Baylor media session on Thurday.

**For more from a BIG XII standpoint, check out Amanda’s preview HERE.