Perfect no more
BAYLOR CRUSHES GONZAGA TO WIN NCAA TITLE
INDIANAPOLIS — Heck, everyone’s entitled to an off night. But that beatdown Baylor put on undefeated Gonzaga with the national title on the line — nobody saw that coming.
The fresh-as-can-be Bears obliterated wobbly-legged Gonzaga’s march to perfection Monday night in an 86-70 runaway that brought this once-downtrodden program’s first national title back home to Waco, Texas.
Jared Butler scored 22 points and MaCio Teague 19 for the Bears (28-2), who were ranked second or third in the AP poll all year long — but never first, all because of one team.
Pounding the offensive glass and scrapping for — and winning — the lion’s share of the 50-50 balls, Baylor never let this one come down to a Jalen Suggs miracle. The Gonzaga freshman’s buzzer-beater from near the halfcourt logo got the Zags to the final in a game that stood as their first true test of the season.
They passed against UCLA. Against Baylor? Not even close.
After running to a 19-point lead early, the Bears never let Gonzaga get any closer than nine.
Guard Davion Mitchell — nicknamed “Off Night” because so many opponents encounter one when they go against him — finished with 15 points and did his best on Suggs. The freshman finished with 22 points — most of them after the Zags were well into desperation mode — and likely will be heading to the NBA lottery next.
Gonzaga’s first loss in 32 games this season — 36 dating to 2019-20 — leaves Indiana’s 197576 team as the last to go undefeated. If Scott May, Quinn Buckner and the rest of coach Bob Knight’s team were keeping champagne cold to celebrate — a la the perfect ’72 Miami Dolphins — they could’ve uncorked it by halftime. Or sooner.
Baylor was up 9-0 after 2 ½ minutes and the Bulldogs faced only their fourth double-digit deficit of the season at 11-1. They faced their biggest deficit of the season — 15 points — with 7:10 gone. By then, Suggs had two fouls and was watching from the bench.
He tried hard to breathe some fire into his teammates, or the Zags fans — who made about as much noise as the cardboard cutouts that were scattered through Lucas Oil Stadium to make it seem full.
“Let’s .... go!” Suggs screamed after he got fouled on a layup early in the second half. He missed the free throw.
But more than anything in the title game, it was Suggs’ memorable basket two nights earlier that laid the groundwork for this one. His bank shot at the buzzer capped one of the most riveting college basketball games ever. Back on the floor about 46 hours after that emotional roller coaster, it was clear the Zags were gassed.
The sequence that best illustrated the energy gap came six minutes into the contest when Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua slapped the ball out of Drew Timme’s hands and the Bears worked the ball ahead to Mitchell. He missed a layup, but Tchamwa Tchatchoua got the offensive rebound and fed Adam Flagler for a 3.
Gonzaga was practically just standing there for it all.
This was one of the most-anticipated finals in recent history, a meeting of the two best teams from the last two seasons — this one and 2020, when COVID-19 scrapped the action before tournament time.