Underachiever label laid to rest by Baylor

BAYLOR needed this. Badly. The underachiever label is perhaps the most distasteful reputation a team can have hung around its neck. Baylor, with too many early exits from the NCAA Tournament relative to its seeding in recent years, had developed that perception.

“I hope we’re not the game that changes the public perception,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said before his No. 5 seed Wildcats played top-seeded Baylor on Saturday night in a South Region Sweet 16 game at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Baylor not only changed the perception of its program, it shattered it with a gritty 62-51 comeback win over Villanova, which had deftly dictated play in the first half.

It was fitting that Baylor’s win came against a team that has been its opposite in the NCAA Tournament, a team that has won two of the past four national titles and was in its seventh Sweet 16 under Wright’s watch.

“At the beginning of the year, every team in the country wants to go to a Final Four,’’ Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “And we’re on the verge of that.’’

The Bears (25-2) will play No. 3 seed Arkansas (25-6) in the Elite Eight on Monday night with a chance to advance to the Final Four for the first time since 2012. Arkansas survived with a 72-70 victory over 15th-seeded Oral Roberts later Saturday.

In between Baylor’s 2012 run and Saturday night, the Bears had been dogged by a third-round exit as a No. 3 seed in 2017 NCAAs, a first-round loss to No. 12 seed Yale as a No. 5 seed in 2016 and a firstround loss to No. 14 seed Georgia State as a No. 3 seed in 2015.

Those kinds of losses can haunt a program.

When those early exits were brought up to Drew after the game, he begged to “disagree’’ with any perception that his teams had underachieved.

“If you’re in the tournament, you’re going to have great moments and you’re going to have bad moments,’’ Drew said. “We’ve lost to national champs [and] we’ve lost to teams that have gone to the Final Four.’’

For the record, neither Yale nor Georgia State went to the Final Four.

Despite those past disappointments, though, Drew should be celebrated for the job he has done with this team, particularly on Saturday night with the season on the brink.

That Baylor, which led the nation in 3-point shooting percentage (41.5 percent), advanced while shooting just 3-for-19 (15.8 percent) is a testament not only to the mental toughness of its players, but also to the work of Drew. He adjusted the offense in the second half, going to four guards and emphasizing more attacking in the paint.

“When we were 2-for-12 [from 3-point range] at the half, we knew we had to get inside,’’ Drew said.

“Going into halftime, coach [Drew] told us we can get to the paint anytime we want,’’ Baylor guard Davion Mitchell (14 points, nine rebounds) said. “So, we did a great job in the second half getting to the paint. We knew that we were going to keep putting pressure on their defense and they were going to collapse eventually. That’s what changed the game.’’

Baylor stopped forcing 3-pointers and started attacking the Wildcats in the paint, and the Bears did it with stunning success, scoring 36 of their 39 points in the second half from inside the arc.

The Bears’ defense, which forced an average of 17.5 turnovers a game this season, suffocated Villanova, which had given the ball away a total of six times in its previous two games, forcing the Wildcats into 16 turnovers. Nine of those giveaways came in the Bears’ second-half assault, which included a 23-10 run to end the game. “The turnovers killed us,’’ Wright said. “We knew if we wanted to win, we had to turn the over and make them feel uncomfortable,’’ Mitchell said. “We knew defense was going to turn into offense.’’

Baylor scored 22 points off turnovers in the game.

“Their defense went to another level,’’ said Villanova senior forward Jermaine Samuels, who scored 16 points. “We got sped up a little bit.’’

Speed kills. And it killed Villanova’s season.

Villanova, which was 15-0 this season when leading at halftime, led 30-23 at intermission after shooting 11-for-22 while Baylor shot 10-for-29.

In the second half, Villanova had as many field goals (nine) as it had turnovers, shooting 9-for-24 while Baylor shot 16-for-30.

“We punched them in the mouth in the second half the same way they punched us in the mouth in the first half,’’ Mitchell said.

“When you’re down seven at halftime, when there’s this much pressure, win or go home, sometimes pressure bursts pipes,’’ Drew said “Obviously, it didn’t burst ours tonight.’’

So Baylor, No. 1 seed, moved closer to the Final Four. Perception changed.

“They’re just a really good team,’’ Wright said. “Definitely a team capable of winning a national championship.’’