Baylor defeat Houston and advance to first national title since 1948
SportsPulse: it was never close. Baylor classified Houston to win their first national title game since 1948. If their star trio like them play in the Final Four, it’s the first time they have ever won their first title.
USA TODAY
INDIANAPOLIS – Bayer guard Jared Butler said before Saturday’s national semi-final that only to reach a Final Four was not enough. The Bears had to be the best.
Baylor came a step closer to cutting the nets as the best team in the sport, while riding on Butler’s hot shot to defeat Houston 78-59 and reach the national men’s championship.
The Bears (27-2) advance to the Gonzaga-UCLA winner title on Monday (21:00 ET, CBS).
Butler, Baylor’s All-American guard and leading scorer of the first team, had not yet played his best in this NCAA tournament – when his teammates performed. He made up for the lost time on Saturday and tapped the first three halves of the three halves on the point to 17 points at night. Every time Houston tried to regain a sense of momentum, Butler nailed a jumper to keep Baylor far ahead.
“It was just a great night for my teammates and what they did,” Butler said in a post-match TV interview. “We came out strong. We came out on fire. We locked up really defensively and that was a big key in the game.
“We are very confident. We did not come all this way not to win everything. We have come all this way to show who we are and to bring the culture of joy and that is what we are going to do Monday night. ”
Davion Mitchell (12 points and 11 assists), the national defensive player of the year, was also early in his A-game and drained a retiring three-pointer when the first half expired to give the Bears a 45-20 cushion . . In the second half, Baylor’s teammates – Adam Flagler and MaCio Teague – stepped up.
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Houston’s Marcus Sasser was the only offensive life for the Cougars in the first half, scoring 17 of the team’s 20 points. The program’s normal defensive defense was absent against a powerful Baylor offense, which allowed for nearly as many points in the first half (45) as its previous three NCAA Tournament opponents allowed (average 55.7 marks).
Baylor, who was back in the Final Four for the first time since 1950, has yet to play a full game in the NCAA Tournament and so far has not fully utilized his offensive potential. The Bears, who lead the country in three-point field goal percentage, won 11-for-24 from outside the arc against Houston. Matthew Mayer came off the bench with 12 points for Baylor.
“This is a strong point of our team. We play with joy and we do our best to share the ball and help each other, “Baylor coach Scott Drew said in a post-match TV interview. We have many different weapons – people who can score 20. Everyone puts their ego aside and tries to touch the open man and is happy for others. We are really blessed. We are very excited. We now have one more to go. ‘
Follow Scott Gleeson, University Basketball Reporter, on Twitter @ScottMGleeson.