Baylor University’s men’s basketball team captured its first national championship in program history Monday night, defeating fellow No. 1 seed Gonzaga, 86-70. Baylor (28-2) and Gonzaga (31-1) were arguably the two best teams in the country all season, making the championship game matchup a highly anticipated one; but Baylor took home the title – and ended Gonzaga’s run at a perfect season – in convincing fashion.
Thanks to an offensive explosion from Baylor, Indiana’s 1976 team that finished 32-0 remains as the most recent undefeated national champion in men’s college hoops. Baylor came sprinting out of the gates, putting Gonzaga in an early 9-0 hole just 2:30 into the game. It was the latter’s largest deficit of the whole tournament to that point.
Things would quickly get worse for Gonzaga, as Baylor’s lead stretched to double digits just minutes later. Jalen Suggs, who hit the game-winning shot to beat UCLA in the national semifinals on Saturday, was forced to the bench just a few minutes into the game due to foul trouble, which was a big blow to Gonzaga’s offense. Baylor’s lead reached 15 points by the second media timeout, and the score was 29-10 at 10:00 mark of the first half.
Gonzaga closed the frame on a 9-2 run to cut its deficit to 10 points, trailing 47-37 at halftime. Both teams shot over 50% or higher in the opening 20 minutes, but one key difference was Baylor’s offensive rebounding, which led to extra chances – and baskets. Baylor took 67 total shots, 18 more than Gonzaga, and nine of Baylor’s 16 offensive rebounds came in the first half. Gonzaga had just 10 rebounds in total over the opening 20 minutes. In the full 40 minutes, Baylor out-rebounded Gonzaga by 16 (38-22).
Back-to-back three-pointers from Jared Butler put Baylor up 14 early in the second half. Gonzaga’s deficit was cut to single digits after a layup Andrew Nembhard made the score 58-49 with 14:30 to play. Not allowing Gonzaga to gain any more momentum, Baylor responded with a 9-2 run over the ensuing 1:35, extending the lead to 67-51. Baylor’s advantaged ballooned to as much as 20 down the final stretch, allowing the both teams to put in some reserves for the final minutes. The soon-to-be champions didn’t have to sweat things out.
Butler led Baylor in points and assists, recording 22 and seven, respectively. Butler had a great night at the offensive end, shooting 4-for-9 from three and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. MaCio Teague scored 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting. Davion Mitchell and Adam Flagler both finished in double figures as well. Mitchell recorded 15 points, along with six rebounds and five assists. Flagler finished with 13 points, going 3-for-4 from behind the arc and 4-for-4 on free throws. Mark Vital grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, while also finishing with six points and a pair of steals.
Despite a slow start, Suggs led Gonzaga with 22 points. Drew Timme and Corey Kispert added 12 points apiece as well in the losing effort. As a team, Gonzaga shot 51% from the floor overall (25-for-49), but struggled from three, going just 5-for-17 (29.4%). The five three-pointers was Gonzaga’s lowest total in any of its six games in this year’s tournament.
Baylor’s only championship game appearance prior to Monday night came in 1948, a 58-42 loss to Kentucky. Now, 73 years later, Baylor has its first title, completing the goal head coach Scott Drew set when he took over in 2003.
