INDIANAPOLIS – – Jalen Suggs opened his first game after hitting one of the biggest blows in NCAA tournament history with a missed three-pointer and then an immediate offensive foul when he hit a defender.
It was the first sign that Gonzaga’s pursuit of perfection, often compounded by the seamless execution, was in trouble against Baylor.
The offense that culminated in large totals struggled to clear early or score three points. A reliable defense could not slow down Bears’ three-point shooting or keep Baylor from the glass.
And on the final night of the season, the Bulldogs – who apparently clicked everything from the season’s first point – end with an out-of-synchonic and uninterrupted performance in Monday night’s 86-70 defeat to the Bears in the NCAA- championship match. .
The loss put an end to the first unbeaten national champion since Indiana in 1976.
Gonzaga (31-1) scored 51% but finished with a season-low 70 points after scoring a national best of 91.6 points – more than six points better than any other team in Division I. However, it was simply that the Zags apparently struggled to bring everything together on a night when the Bears came out on the attack.
Suggs dug his name into the tournament’s history by hitting a run shot from across the half of the bench to beat UCLA on Saturday night in overtime. But he took an early seat after picking up two early fouls in this one, which ignored the Zags’ best NBA prospect as the Bears jumped all over them to a 9-0 lead.
Eventually, he returned and finished with a team high of 22 points, 15 after halftime. The problem was that the Zags could never let everyone roll like the whole season, and that made them stare at a big deficit almost all night.
The All-American Corey Kispert, first team of Associated Press, did not get much clean look and finished with just 12 points and two three-pointers. Second-grader Drew Timme also had twelve, but he received just seven strokes while struggling in the second half and sustaining an apparent injury.
Gonzaga scored just 5 of 17 three-pointers, their lowest total of six NCAA Tournament games.
The Zags have been here once before and took a team with one loss four years ago until the last night of the season before losing to North Carolina. This one might do more damage to a team that has won all year except for two double-digit games and coach Mark Few has won the national championship after which he has spent years.
By the last minute, Kispert and Joel Ayayi had pulled out the match with a hug for a couple when they were down on the bench. Suggs soon joined them and was in tears and crying first in the arms of Andrew Nembhard and then Kispert when the celebration of the Bears began.
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