The 2021 men’s college basketball championships continued Monday night with a pair of regional final matchups. No. 1 seed Baylor and No. 2 seed Houston advanced with hard-fought victories, both snapping long national semifinal appearance droughts.
No. 2 – Houston vs. No. 12 – Oregon State
FINAL: 67-61 – Houston
No. 2 seed Houston held a 17-point lead at halftime over No. 12 seed Oregon State in the Midwest Regional final, and looked poised to coast its way into the national semifinals. Oregon State came storming back in the second half to tie the game; but, ultimately, Houston was able to survive and advance.
Houston’s top-notch defense held Oregon State to a season-low 17 points and forced eight turnovers in the first half. Both Houston and Oregon State shot around 35% in the period, but the former’s offensive rebounding led to extra chances and more points. Houston recorded eight offensive rebounds in the first half and finished the night with 19 total.
Houston maintained a comfortable lead throughout the early stages of the second half. Down by 14 points with 9:30 left, Oregon State went on a 17-3 run over the ensuing minutes, tying the score at 55-55 with 3:48 to play.
Momentum swung back in Houston’s favor rather quickly after things got knotted up. A 9-1 scoring run gave Houston an eight-point lead in the final 30 seconds, and it was able to seal the victory from there.
Marcus Sasser made five three-pointers and led Houston with 20 points. Quentin Grimes finished second in scoring with 18 points, while also adding four assists, two rebounds, and two steals. DeJon Jarreau put up a nice stat line of 10 points, eight assists, eight rebounds, two blocks, and a steal. Justin Gorham had a quiet night offensively, scoring just six points, but grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
Houston will face No. 1 seed Baylor, the winner of the South Region, in the national semifinals on Saturday, April 3. Houston will be making its sixth national semifinal appearance in school history, and first since 1984.
No. 1 – Baylor vs. No. 3 – Arkansas
FINAL: 81-72 – Baylor
No. 3 seed Arkansas won each of its first three tournament games by coming back from double-digit deficits, but on Monday night, No. 1 seed Baylor was just too much to handle, as the latter won the South Regional final, 81-72.
The South Region’s top-seeded team jumped out to an early 18-point lead, scoring 29 points in the first nine minutes. However, after scoring just two points and registering zero field goals over the final 4:10 of the first half, Baylor held a 46-38 lead at the midway break.
Arkansas couldn’t stop Baylor’s high-scoring offense in the first half, but it did a decent job of keeping pace and overcoming the early deficit. Despite trailing by eight at the break, Arkansas shot 62.5% in the first half (15-for-24) and hit 3-of-4 three-point attempts. What really hurt Arkansas was turnovers and missed free throws; the No. 3 seed went 5-for-10 from the charity stripe and coughed-up the ball 10 times in the first half. A 9-2 scoring run to close the half gave Arkansas a lot of momentum heading into the locker room.
Baylor kept Arkansas at bay early in the second half, remaining ahead by a few possessions for the first eight minutes of the frame. Arkansas made things interesting with an 8-0 run, cutting the score to 62-58, Baylor, with 9:30 to play.
Back-to-back three-pointers from MaCio Teague gave Baylor a 72-61 lead with under four minutes to go. Baylor closed out the win in strong fashion, using a 12-3 run in the final minutes to shut the door on Arkansas.
Teague led Baylor in scoring with 22 points, shooting 8-for-18 overall and 3-for-7 from three. Jared Butler added 14 points, along with five assists and three rebounds. Davion Mitchell finished with a team-high six assists for Baylor and scored 12 points.
Baylor’s matchup with No. 2 seed Houston will be its third national semifinal appearance in school history, and first since 1950.
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Tournament action continues on Tuesday with No. 1 seed Gonzaga facing No. 6 seed Southern California in the West Regional final at 7:15 p.m. ET. The East Regional final, No. 1 seed Michigan vs. No. 11 seed UCLA, is scheduled to begin at 9:57 p.m. ET.
Coverage on Tuesday of the men’s college basketball championships will be available on WGR, starting at 7 p.m. ET.
