Hartford men vs. Baylor, NCAA Tournament first round
The 16th-seeded Hartford men’s basketball team will make its first NCAA Tournament appearance against top-seeded Baylor in Indianapolis on Friday. Baylor, ranked No. 2 in the AP poll, will be making its 13th appearance in the tournament.
The Bears were ranked No. 2 much of the season but missed three weeks of games and practice due to a COVIDpause in February. After a win over Texas Feb. 2, they missed six games. Baylor lost in its second game back from the pause on Feb. 28, 71-58, to Kansas. The team’s second loss came in the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament 83-74 to Oklahoma State.
Hartford will have its hands full on multiple levels Friday. Baylor’s defense is high-powered and if the Bears are hitting from beyond the 3-point arc, the game could get ugly quickly. But Hartford coach John Gallagher remained optimistic: “If we do certain things and we can hang around, then anything’s possible.”
NCAATournament first round
Time: Friday, 3:30 p.m.
Venue: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis
Series: Baylor, 2-0
Last meeting: Hartford lost 74-59 Dec. 22, 2009 at Baylor
Streaks: Hartford, W5; Baylor, L1.
TV: TruTV (Lisa Byington, Steve Smith, AJ Ross). A history-making broadcast team as Byington becomes the first woman to call play-by-play for an NCAA men’s tournament game.
Radio: Westwood One, Sirius Ch. 136/XM
202 or search for a local station via www. WestwoodOneSports.com/stations/
Livestream: Free via NCAA March Madness live. Streaming sites that carry all or part of the NCAA Tournament include Paramount+, fuboTV, Hulu Plus Live TV and YouTube TV, all of which offer free trials.
Traci Grant, G, 6-1, GS; Austin Williams, G, 6-4, Sr.; D.J. Mitchell, G, 6-0, Jr.; Hunter Marks, F, 6-9, Jr.; Miroslav Stafl, F, 6-10, So.; PJ Henry, G, 5-10, So.
Jared Butler, G, 6-3, Jr.; MaCio Teague, G, 6-4, Sr.; Davion Mitchell, G, 6-2, Sr.; Mark Vital, G/F, 6-5, Sr.; Flo Thamba, F, 6-10, Jr.; Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua, F, 6-8, So.
Hartford’s offense: Against Vermont in the America East semifinal, the Hawks shot 62.8 percent, including a 13 for 19 effort from the field in the second half (68 percent). Against UMass Lowell in the championship game, they were more muted, struggling to score in the first half (7 for 29) but then picked it up in the second half, shooting 50 percent
(13 for 26).
Hartford’s defense: Ranked No. 1 in the America East, the Hawks allowed an average of 63.3 points per game and held UMass Lowell to 50 points in the championship. Grant is the Hawks’ best defensive player. He had four steals in the conference final Saturday and was the conference leader this season (2.6 per game).
Baylor’s offense: High-powered. The Bears lead the country in 3-point percentage (41.8) and are third in scoring (84.4) and fourth in offensive rebounding percentage (37.5). Six Baylor players are shooting at least 39 percent from behind the 3-point line.
Baylor’s defense: Ditto. Mitchell was the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, and Butler and Mitchell are ranked 1-2 in steals in the Big 12.
Hartford key: Slowing the game down as much as possible, limiting turnovers.
Players to watch: Traci Carter, a graduate student, is one of Hartford’s veteran players and a team leader who played at Marquette and LaSalle before coming to Hartford.
About Baylor’s coach: Scott Drew, in his 17th season at Baylor, has coached the Bears to NCAA appearances nine of the last 12 years. Drew’s younger brother Bryce coaches at Grand Canyon University, whose 15th-seeded team is in the NCAA Tournament for the first time and will face No. 2 Iowa in a first-round game.
About Baylor’s mascot: The Bear mascot was adopted in 1914 and a real bear named Ted first appeared at the 1917 Baylor-Texas A&Mfootball game.
Famous alumni: Track gold medalist Michael Johnson, actress Angela Kinsey of“The Office,”
NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III and country singer Willie Nelson (who dropped out after two years).