Jared Butler and Davion Mitchell co-authored a dominating first half as top-seeded Baylor rolled to a 78-59 victory over second-seeded Houston in the first national semifinal of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Butler scored 14 points during one six-plus-minute stretch in the first half en route to a team-high 17 points while Mitchell recorded seven of his 11 assists — a program postseason record — as Baylor (27-2) raced to a 25-point halftime lead. By suffocating the Cougars (28-4) defensively and limiting their influence on the offensive glass, Baylor earned a place in the national final Monday against either Gonzaga or UCLA.
Mitchell tallied 12 points to post a double-double while Matthew Mayer added 12 points off the bench. MaCio Teague and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua scored 11 apiece for the Bears, who posted a 33-28 rebounding edge and advanced to their first championship game since 1948.
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Marcus Sasser scored 20 points for the Cougars, who shot 38.2 percent from the field. The Bears shot 52.7 percent.
Baylor seized control with a 16-3 run midway through the first half, doing so largely without Butler, whose 3-pointer with 10:43 left was just his second field goal yet stretched the lead to 22-11. Butler then caught fire, adding a three-point play with 8:35 left in the half, back-to-back 3s and a layup with 4:09 left to complete his individual surge.
Mitchell, meanwhile, scored twice inside the final minute of the half, and his 3-pointer just before the buzzer gave Baylor a 45-20 lead.
The Cougars were overmatched outside of Sasser, who scored 17 points prior to the intermission. Houston went more than six minutes without a field goal between two Sasser baskets and, excluding Sasser, shot 1 of 15 with nine turnovers in the first half.
Quentin Grimes and DeJon Jarreau, integral cogs for the Cougars offensively, were a combined 1 for 12 with six turnovers in the first half. Baylor, meanwhile, shot 16 of 28.
Houston fashioned a 12-3 run early in the second half, with Grimes’ stepback jumper cutting the deficit to 52-36 with 13:06 remaining. But Baylor remained in complete control down the stretch.
Grimes finished with 13 points on 4-of-12 shooting to join Sasser in double figures for Houston, which was participating in its first Final Four since 1984.
–Field Level Media