Mar 16, 2007, 5:00 GMT
Lexington, KY - Drew Lavender scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half, and Josh Duncan's layup in the lane gave Xavier the lead for good in the final minute, as the Musketeers topped Brigham Young, 79-77, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The victory put the ninth-seeded Musketeers into a second-round matchup in the South Region Saturday against No. 1 Ohio State and former Xavier head coach Thad Matta. The Buckeyes pounded Central Connecticut State, 78-57, in the opener of the night session at Rupp Arena.
'Obviously, we're going to have to play a perfect game to beat Ohio State,' Xavier coach Sean Miller said. 'It's easy to watch them. You see them all of the time. I probably know them as well as anybody because of my relationships not only with Thad, but the rest of the coaches on that staff. I'm their biggest fan. Unfortunately that time has ended for a couple of days. We're looking forward to the game.'
Justin Doellman had 23 points for Xavier (25-8), while B.J. Raymond scored nine. Derrick Brown had 16 rebounds for the Musketeers.
Keena Young led the way for BYU (25-9) with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Mike Rose tallied 15 points.
Lavender's jumper boosted Xavier to a 75-73 lead with just over a minute left, but Lee Cummard's tip-in tied the game with 57.2 seconds left.
'We were nervous about their post players, so we changed the way we guarded in the post,' BYU's Austin Ainge said. 'I think that opened up the lane for him (Lavender), and he's an extremely good player. I had trouble staying in front of him to guard him.'
Duncan then held the ball in the left corner before dribbling into the lane to give the Musketeers the lead with 34.2 seconds remaining.
'What went through my head was last year's game against Gonzaga,' Duncan said. 'I had a shot like that in the corner and missed it. Tonight, I was about to go up with the jumper when I saw the guy running at me, so I gave him a pump fake and drove trying to make the play.'
Ainge missed a jumper at the other end and Trent Plaisted failed on a follow- up shot.
Lavender hit two free throws with 11.2 seconds left to seal the win, and Young hit a meaningless layup at the buzzer.
Justin Cage had nine points for the Musketeers.
Jimmy Balderson had 10 points for the Cougars, who led 12-4 early before the Musketeers rallied. Xavier had the next seven points, but trailed 38-32 at the half. The Cougars used a 10-2 spurt to end the opening 20 minutes.
A three by Balderson extended BYU's lead to 49-40. A 13-3 run by the Musketeers later in the half boosted them to a 57-55 edge. Brown's two free throws ended the spurt. Xavier led by as many as five until the dramatic finish.
Game Notes
BYU's streak of consecutive NCAA Tournament losses was extended to six, including five straight first round exits. The last win came in 1993...BYU fell to 11-25 all time in the NCAA Tournament.
© 2007 The Sports Network
Game Notes.
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