Bearing down: Baylor routs Houston 78-59 to reach title game

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Nearly two decades ago, Scott Drew decided to leave his comfort zone at tiny Valparaiso for the scandal-plagued basketball program at Baylor, explaining to his father that there was nowhere for the Bears to go but up.

Now, they’re one win Butler scored all 17 away from the top. of his points in the

Led by Jared Butler first half, but just and the rest of their brilliant about everyone from backcourt, a defense Baylor (27-2) got into that refused to give the act, with five players Houston an inch and a scoring in double coach intent on making figures. They built a the most of his first trip 45-20 lead by halftime to the Final Four, the and coasted the rest of Bears roared to a 78-59 the way in the first victory Saturday night in Final Four showdown their first appearance in between schools from the NCAA Tournament the Lone Star State. semifinals in 71 long Next up for the Bears year s. is Gonzaga, the overall

“Every day you’re No. 1 seed, which beat grinding, and you UCLA 93-90 when Jalen don’t really look back. Suggs banked in a You’re pressing forward,” buzzer-beater in overtime. Drew said, “but Monday night’s I’m so blessed to have championship is a these unbelievable matchup that was supposed players that bought to take place in into what we like to December, but that game do with the program.” was called off hours before

Or, as Butler put it: tipoff due to a “This is what we came COVID-19 outbreak to Baylor to do.” within the Bulldogs progr am.

“They got pros, we got pros. They win a lot of games, we win a lot of games,” Butler said. “I think we match up pretty w el l .”

Better than Houston did with them.

Marcus Sasser had 20 points and Quentin Grimes 13 for the coldshooting Cougars (28-4), whose dream path to their first Final Four since 1984 — they faced teams seeded 15th, 10th, 11th and 12th along the way — ended with a whimper against a team that spent most of the season ranked No. 2 in the nation behind Gonzaga.

“We had a great run,” Sasser said as he choked back tears. “Just fell short this year.”

Butler said this week that Baylor had been focused squarely on the Final Four since the moment last year’s tournament was canceled by the pandemic. And for Drew, the wait goes back even longer.

He took over a program 18 years ago embroiled in arguably the biggest controversy in college basketball history: the graphic shooting death of player Patrick Dennehy, his teammate Devon Dotson pleading guilty to his murder, attempts by then-coach Dave Bliss to cover it all up and NCAA sanctions that lasted well into Drew’s own t enur e.

Yet somehow, the son of longtime Valpo coach Homer Drew could always picture the very scene that unfolded Saturday night: His team playing selflessly, almost effortlessly, never once feeling the pressure of college basketball’s biggest stage, then celebrating their success at midcourt when the final buzzer sounded.

Well, there were a couple things Drew probably didn’t picture.

Instead of 70,000 fans reaching to the rafters, the Bears were cheered in the lower bowl by thousands of cardboard cutouts — the late Georgetown coach John Thompson, New Mexico State mascot Pistol Pete and everyone in between — due to COVID-19 measures that have forced them to live in a bubble for the last three weeks.

The roughly 8,000 fans that were allowed through the doors, socially distanced in a vast ocean of blue seats, provided a muted soundtrack to the blowout taking place inside the cavernous home of the Indianapolis Colts.

“This was probably the toughest year for any of us,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said, “and not just the bubble here but COVID challenges, isolation, being quarantined, social distancing, masks — this was quite a year. But you know, the sting of this will leave them. Days will turn into weeks, weeks into months, and what they’ll remember is the memories.”

At least, all those leading up to Saturday ni ght .

The Bears controlled the game from the jump, unleashing an early 143 run fueled by the crisp passing, silky shooting and dastardly defense that made them unbeatable before a 23-day COVID-19 pause late in the regular season.

When the Cougars finally scored, the Bears ripped off another 16-3 run later in the first half, carving up the nation’s top 3-point field-goal defense with ruthless efficiency. By the time Davion Mitchell knocked down back-to-back 3pointers to end the first half, the Bears had a 4520 lead that felt insurmountable.

“I don’t think I’ve seen a team with five guards at that level, no drop-off,” Sampson said, “and they were good at both ends of the floor.”

Sasser did everything he could to keep Houston alive, hitting five 3pointers and scoring 17 himself. But the rest of the Cougars were 1 of 15 from the field, including their All-American guard Grimes (0 for 5) and DeJon Jarreau (1 for 7), who earned MVP honors in the Midwest Region.

Sampson, whose reputation for being a master tactician was stretched to the limit, tried to get the guardheavy Cougars to go to the basket more in the second half. But nothing seemed to work.

“We came out of the locker room and competed,” Sampson said with a shake of his head, “but Baylor is the best team we’ve played. They may be the best team we’ve played in the seven years I’ve been her e.”

Meanwhile, the big cushion down the stretch gave the Bears — mullet-haired Matthew Mayer, MaCio Teague and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua in their bright pink sneakers, Butler and Mitchell and the rest of their guys lounging on the bench — plenty of time to celebrate the program’s second trip to the national title game.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet, to be honest with you,” Butler said. “I think it’ll sink in later in life, or two months from now, and I’ll think, ‘Wow, we were in the national title game.’ Or next year when I watch it, I’ll think, ‘Wow, we were there.’”