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College Football

Champs! Baylor pummels Gonzaga to claim national championship

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

Baylor is the national champion.

The Bears had no trouble with top-ranked Gonzaga in Monday night’s national championship game, cruising to a 86-70 win to close out the college basketball season in Indianapolis. It is the program’s first national title in men’s basketball.

Baylor started the game hot, scoring the first 9 points of the contest and building a double-digit advantage in the first 4 minutes of the game. Scott Drew’s team never looked back, leading by as many as 19 points in the half and taking a 47-37 advantage into halftime.

Gonzaga got as close as 9 points in the second half, closing the gap to 58-49, but Baylor poured it on after that. The Bears led by double figures the rest of the way.

Baylor was led in scoring by Jared Butler, who scored 22 points in the victory. Four other players hit double figures, with MaCio Teague scoring 19, Davion Mitchell adding 15 and Adam Flagler pitching in 13 off the bench.

The Bears made 10-of-23 shots from behind the 3-point line and shot 44.8% from the floor but dominated the offensive glass, outrebounding the Zags 28-22. Baylor had 15 offensive rebounds compared to Gonzaga’s 5.

Baylor also ended the game with just 9 turnovers while Gonzaga had 14.

Gonzaga’s season ends at 31-1, falling a victory shy of completing the perfect year. Indiana’s 1975-76 team is the last remaining undefeated team in college basketball.

Gonzaga was led by Jalen Suggs with 22 points. Corey Kispert and Drew Timme each scored 12 in the loss.

Below are some highlights from Baylor’s memorable night.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB