The Baylor Bears are national champions in men’s college basketball. And it wasn’t even close in the title game, either, as they downed the previously undefeated Gonzaga Bulldogs 86-70 to claim their school’s first national title in men’s basketball. It was largely all down to an incredibly hot start from the Bears, who raced out to a 9-0 lead within three minutes. They would lead by as many as 17 in the first half, but somehow the Zags clawed their deficit back to just ten at the half-time interval. Surely the unbeaten #1 overall seed would mount a comeback, right? Wrong, because Baylor kept its composure in the second half, outscoring them by six in that period as well.
Led by Jared Butler’s 22 points and Macio Teague’s 19 as well as a strong defensive effort (Gonzaga scored the fewest points it had all season on the Bears), they were never in danger. It also must be said that the #1 seeded Bears would have had a real shot at an unbeaten season here had Covid-19 issues not happened to them a couple of months ago to derail that push. Jalen Suggs had led the way for the Bulldogs with 22 on the evening, but no one else could manage more than 12 and none of the benches produced more than four, seeing them fall to 31-1 and being denied of their school’s first national crown.
