Baylor Wins the Championship!

Another great March Madness Tournament has come to a close with Baylor winning the National Championship on Monday night.  After the Final Four on Saturday the two top teams in the country, Gonzaga and Baylor, played in the Championship on Monday night, with Baylor coming out as the victor.

The first Final Four game was a blowout with 1 seed Baylor defeating 2 seed Houston by nearly 20 points.  What made the difference for Baylor in this game was their efficiency on the offensive end.  They went 52.7% from the field and 45.8% from three compared to Houston’s 38.2% and 31.6%.  This deserves a lot of credit as Houston was considered one of the best defensive teams and the tournament.

The second Final Four game was an incredible game between undefeated 1 seed, Gonzaga, and 11 seed UCLA.  The game was very high scoring and went to overtime, ending on a half-court buzzer-beater from Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs.  UCLA’s star Johnny Juzang put in a great game getting 29 points and 6 rebounds along with Jaime Jaquez Jr. who had 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists.  Unfortunately for them, it was not enough to beat Gonzaga led by Drew TImme with 25 points and Joel Ayiyi with 22.

Going into the Championship game on Monday night, undefeated Gonzaga was the favorite, but Baylor had other plans.  Baylor started the game hot going for a 9-0 run off the bat.  At half-time Baylor led by 10 and in the second half extended their lead to win the game by 16.  Baylor played a great game on both ends of the floor, dominating the rebound category 34 to 17, and committing only 7 turnovers while forcing 14 turnovers from Gonzaga.  As always, they had a great shooting game and were able to hold a good lead the whole game.

This win earned Baylor their first National Basketball Title and was a good end to a great tournament.  Although Gonzaga was the favorite, Baylor played a terrific game and was able to complete the season in the best way possible.  Congratulations to Baylor on their win!