LEXINGTON, Ky. — BYU's NCAA win drought grew to 14 years on Thursday in the blue grass of Kentucky.

Unlike the last BYU try in 2004 — a loss to Syracuse in Denver — it wasn't a Gerry McNamara-type 43 points that killed BYU. It was a bunch of hops, skips and floaters inside the key by tiny 5-foot-7 Xavier guard Drew Lavender in the closing minutes that muddled BYU's NCAA hopes and lifted the Musketeers to a 79-77 win in the first-round of the South Regional in Rupp Arena.

"This was a tough, hard-fought game that could have gone either way," said Xavier coach Sean Miller.

Xavier outscored BYU 23-9 at the free-throw line, attempting 29 free throws to the Cougars' 13. Aside from Lavender, that was as big a difference in the game as any. The Cougars could not hold on to a nine-point lead with 16:19 to play.

"If you look at their championship conference run, that's what they did to get there is make more free throws than opponents attempt and that's what they did tonight," said BYU head coach Dave Rose. "They are a very good, well-coached team."

Xavier's win pits the Atlantic 10 champion against No. 1 seed Ohio State on Saturday. The Cougars, the first BYU team to be ranked in the top 25 since 1993, are one and done, headed for home today at 25-9.

"We left something unfinished," said guard Austin Ainge. "It was our goal all year to win a game here. We didn't quite get it done. It hurts."

Keena Young led the Cougars, posting a double-double with 24 points and 10 boards. Ainge had 12 points and Jimmy Balderson 10.

"I'm proud of our team," said Rose. "They left everything they had on the floor. Xavier just made a couple of more plays than we did."

Lavender scored nine of his 17 points in the final four minutes. His damage to the Cougars included a 3-pointer, a pair of successful drives in the lane and two free throws with just less than 12 seconds to play.

"Coach just told me to attack," said Lavender, whose shot with 1:33 put Xavier up 75-73. BYU answered with a tip-in by Lee Cummard, but Xavier freshman Josh Duncan put his team back on top by two with just less than a minute to play.

"That was the biggest shot of his life," said Xavier forward Justin Doellman, who had 23 points.

The Cougars had two shots in the final 40 seconds to tie the game, but a drive by Ainge fell short, and Cummard missed on an attempt to tip it back in.

At that point, Lavender's charity tosses with 11.1 to play put the game away at 79-75. Young finished off a mad scramble under the Cougar basket by hoisting up a shot, the final bucket of the game.

BYU led Xavier most of the game, but the Musketeers mounted a 16-3 run at the Cougars after trailing 55-47. Hurting with Trent Plaisted, Cummard and Balderson in foul trouble, BYU went to a zone and Xavier hit big shots in that span with 10 minutes left. In that run, Xavier knocked down three consecutive 3-pointers, one by Lavender, and led 60-55 with just less than minutes to play.