Men’s NCAA Tournament South Region Elite Eight Breakdown
In the first South Regional Semifinal of the evening, Baylor took care of the Xavier Musketeers. Xavier had a tumultuous regular season but was able to right the ship for postseason play until running into a team that was just plain better than them. Baylor got out to a gigantic lead right from the start. Xavier made a comeback to get it close again until Baylor made another spurt late in the second half. If it wasn’t for shoddy play in the final few minutes that made the final score closer than it should have been, the Bears would have won comfortably. The final minutes were important though. Baylor was unable to beat the full court press and even get the ball over half court a number of possessions. Xavier whittled the lead down until running out of time. Whereas Xavier needed a huge game from their stars Tu Holloway and Kenny Frease, Baylor was simply able to switch the scoring load from previous games. They are six deep in stars, any of them able to lead the team in scoring. This night it was the big men, Quincy Acy and Perry Jones, after taking a back seat to the guards the round before.
In the nightcap, Kentucky took it to Indiana. Even with Anthony Davis playing sparingly in the first half because of foul trouble, Kentucky got a ton of production from the other Wildcats and was still able to handle the Hoosiers, gaining some revenge from their regular season defeat but, more importantly, advancing to the Elite Eight to face the Baylor Bears. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist finished with 24 points, 10 rebounds and went 10 for 10 from the foul line. Doron Lamb chipped in 21 and went 8 for 8 from the line. As a team, Kentucky had five players in double figures (Davis ending with 9 points) and shot a tremendous 35-37 from the free throw line. Even though Indiana was able to tally 90 points and shoot better than 52% from the floor, they were not able to slow down anyone on the Wildcats
The thing these two winners have in common, the two most talented teams in the entire south region, is reliable depth. On any given night, Kentucky’s or Baylor’s leading scorer could be any number of players from any number of spots on the floor. Each team’s most promising player from a year ago has almost turned into an afterthought. For Kentucky, Terrance Jones is at best the fourth option on this loaded roster after handling much of the scoring duty as a freshman last year. His 25 percent dip in field goal attempts during the regular season is evidence enough of this. For Baylor, the man is Perry Jones III. Last year, Jones was expected to do everything and really couldn’t. This year, with the additions of Quincy Miller and Pierre Jackson, and the improvement of other teammates, Jones has been able to slide in to a position of, not necessarily less production but less responsibility.
In a matchup like this, the edge has to be given to the team that has been so unfailing all year long. While Baylor has shown flashes of inconsistency along with games of dominance, Kentucky has been so dependable game after game. If this regional final was played 10 times, Kentucky would probably take six or seven of them. However, in a one game scenario, the Bears obviously have the ability to win. Here is the bottom line: Baylor’s best is good enough to beat Kentucky but Kentucky’s best is easier to count on.
