INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The Baylor Men's Basketball team survived a woeful first-half shooting performance to advance to the Elite Eight with a 62-51 win over Villanova in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.
The Bears went 2-12 from three-point range in the first half, including a 1-6 shooting performance from Jared Butler.
In addition, the Bears shot just 35 percent from the field.
By contrast, Villanova hit 50 percent of its first-half shots, including three three-pointers.
As a result, the Wildcats carried a 30-23 lead into the halftime break.
In the second half, the Bears switched their focus to interior shooting. After scoring only 12 points in the pain in the first half, Baylor scored 24 in the first 13 minutes of the second half.
As a result, the Bears went on a 14-2 run to take a 47-41 lead with 7:00 remaining in the second half, despite not hitting a second half three during that opening stretch.
During the Baylor run, the Bears forced six Villanova turnovers over a 4:30 stretch. Baylor scored 22 points off turnovers over the course of the game.
Baylor featured a balanced scoring attack led by Adam Flagler, who scored 16 points in just 23 minutes of action. An additional five Bears scored at least five points.
With the win, the Bears advance to the Elite Eight for the first time in nine years, where they will play the winner of Saturday's Arkansas-Oral Roberts game.
