Baylor stifles Villanova in second half comeback to advance to Elite Eight

At least one top seed will be in the Elite Eight with Baylor shaking off a sluggish first half against Villanova Saturday.

Through one half of action, the 5-seed Wildcats were looking good and had the Bears looking at a seven-point deficit. It was a very uncharacteristic half by Baylor as the team struggled to shoot the ball from three-point range and allowed some good looks on the defensive end.

In the second half, the Bears turned things around. Though neither team was lights out with the ball, Baylor’s defensive pressure was ramped up in the second half. The Bears finished the game with five blocks and eight steals and outscored the Wildcats 39-21 in the second half. That included a 23-10 run over the final 10 minutes of the game as Baylor won 62-51.

Though Baylor entered the game as a great three-point shooting team, the Bears managed just 3-for-19 from deep. Fortunately for the Bears, their defense also held Villanova to a 3-for-17 performance from deep.

Adam Flagler was the star off the bench for the Bears as he put up a team-high 16 points on 4-for-6 shooting. Davion Mitchell also added 14 points.

Baylor advances to the Elite Eight and will await the winner of Oral Roberts vs Arkansas.

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.