HARDLY BEAR BONES
Baylor peaks at right time to deliver first Final Four since 1950
Baylor has knocked on the Final Four’s door here and there for more than a decade under coach Scott Drew, and the pounding Bears finally knocked it in with an 81-72 win over Arkansas on Monday night in Indianapolis.
“We’ve been to two Elite Eights before, and we’ve seen Duke celebrate and then win a national championship, and we’ve seen Kentucky celebrate and then win a national championship,” Drew said. “It’s nice that these guys were able to celebrate, especially after last year, when we were on the verge of having the first No. 1 seed in school history and not having a chance to compete in the NCAA Tournament.”
A year ago, the Bears, who were about as good as this year’s version, were primed to play in the tournament before it was canceled because of the then-burgeoning COVID-19 pandemic.
Two Texas schools have made the Final Four for the first time in history, and Baylor (26-2) will face the University of Houston (28-3) on Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Bears have made five Sweet 16s and three Elite Eights since 2010 under Drew, who took over the Big 12’s most troubled program in 2003 following a one-year stint at Valparaiso, 150 miles from Indianapolis.
“Seeing our guys have a chance to cut down a net and celebrate, it doesn’t get much better than that in March,” Drew said.
Baylor started a school-best 18-0 before losing at Kansas in late February. The Bears’ other loss occurred in the Big 12 tournament semifinals against
Oklahoma State, meaning their two setbacks occurred in their last six games leading to the NCAA Tournament.
The Bears had a 20-day pause in play in February because of COVID-19 issues within the program, along with one postponement because of the arctic blast that swept through Texas in midfebruary.
“There is no book on this because no one has gone through it before,” Drew said of playing amid a pandemic. “I just really appreciate our players trusting and believing in us. When we came back from the pause, we weren’t really ourselves, and we still found ways to win games and to win a Big 12 championship.”
Baylor won its first regularseason conference championship since 1950 and has made its first Final Four since that same year. The Bears did it this season with 3-point shooting — tops in the nation at 41 percent — and hardy defense led by guard Davion Mitchell. The defense especially dropped off following the COVID pause, however, the reason Drew now reminisces on the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City with fondness.
“We lost to a very good Oklahoma State team in our conference tournament, which was a blessing in looking back, because we were able to practice and really get better at our defense,” Drew said. “Which, at the end of the day we wouldn’t (have defeated Arkansas) if in the second half we didn’t lock down and do a really good job down that stretch.”
The Bears won their first three games of the NCAA Tournament by double digits against 16thseeded Hartford (79-55), ninthseeded Wisconsin (76-63) and fifth-seeded Villanova (62-51), so their nine-point victory over Arkansas was their closest call — and it wasn’t really that close.
“They came out hot — they’re a confident group,” Arkansas senior guard Jalen Tate said of the Bears. “And they’re an older group.”
Among Baylor’s five starters, Macio Teague and Mark Vital are seniors, and Jared Butler, Davion Mitchell and Flo Thamba are juniors. Arkansas started three freshmen.
“When we lost at Kansas, we (knew) we had to lose eventually,” said Teague, who hit consecutive 3-pointers with a little less than five minutes remaining against Arkansas to shove the game out of reach. “We felt like we had to diagnose some things and then correct some things going forward. We felt like we would continue getting better as the season went on, and we didn’t want to peak in January.
“We want to peak at the time we’re peaking — right now.”
That peaking was evident against an old Southwest Conference foe in Arkansas on Monday with a berth in the Final Four on the line. The Bears sank seven of their first 10 shots and thanks in particular to their clamping defense led by 18 (29-11) nine minutes into the contest.
“That’s a really good team across the way,” Tate said of the Bears. “It’s really hard to come back (against them) — especially when you’re down 18.”