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INDIANAPOLIS – One of the biggest rebuilding efforts in recent varsity sport history is finally one step closer to completion, as Baylor overcame the hump and reached his first Final Four since 1950.
Since Scott Drew took over in Waco, TX in 2003, he’s led the Bears to the Elite Eight three times, most recently in 2012. But in the two previous appearances, Baylor has met the eventual champions. nationals and was sent home. one step less than the Final Four.
On Monday night, the Bears finally managed to cut the net, preventing an Arkansas push in the second half and pulling out for an 81-72 victory.
“I was afraid I could stay awake this late,” Drew said. “But whatever [it’s] just pure joy, excitement. Obviously, tired because it’s late. And it was an emotional game. But then again, seeing our guys have a chance to cut the net and celebrate doesn’t get much better than it does in March. “
Baylor looked like he could land a punch early Monday night. The Bears scored the first seven points and led by up to 18 points in the first half. But Arkansas, which came back from double-digit deficits in each of its first three NCAA tournament games, fought back and came in at halftime just eight.
In the second half, Baylor again extended the double-digit lead on several occasions, but the Razorbacks stayed in the game. They cut the lead to four points twice, once after a layup by Moses Moody with 9:34 on the left, then again after two free throws by Moody with 7:34 on the left. Arkansas wouldn’t come close.
Baylor left the door open, but a six-minute field drought for Arkansas allowed the Bears to keep the Razorbacks at arm’s length. MaCio Teague sealed the victory with 3 consecutive daggers in the final five minutes.
“My teammates kept finding me … These guys are credit for keeping my confidence in me,” said Teague. “We’ve been in the fire before. It’s not the first time we’ve been in the fire.”
Teague finished with a high 22 points to lead Baylor, while Jared Butler had 14 points and five assists, and Davion Mitchell avoided the first faults to finish with 12 points and six assists. Mitchell also kept Moody, one of the nation’s top freshman scorers, and kept him on shooting 2 for 10.
“I think he’s the best defenseman in the country,” Drew said of Mitchell. “We call him ‘Off Night’, because people tend to spend nights with him. He’s a nightmare to face. And he sets the tone in our defense.
“It’s the rhythm car. Everyone sees it working. It drives everyone to work. So this energy that it brings, and it has incredible speed. You could see against their trap, their pressure, c it’s really hard to keep it in mind. ” Incredible capacity and speed given by God. “
Drew resumed a program mired in scandal when he was hired at Valparaiso in 2003. Baylor forward Patrick Dennehy was murdered by teammate Carlton Dotson during an argument, and subsequent investigations revealed that then head coach Dave Bliss had tried to avoid NCAA violations by claiming that Dennehy was selling drugs to pay for his tuition. Further NCAA investigations revealed a number of major violations committed by Bliss, who resigned and received a 10-year penalty for NCAA justification.
Baylor was hit with probation, huge scholarship cuts and a ban on non-conference games during the 2005-06 season.
Just two years after the no-conference ban, Drew had Baylor in the NCAA tournament for the first time in 20 years – and the Bears have missed him just four times since.
“I felt led to come here,” said Drew. “I really believed in the vision for the school, the president and the trustees during this time and what they wanted Baylor to continue to grow and become. And I wanted to be a part of it. Obviously once we got into the season and you found out that most of your team were walk-ons and most were no more than 6ft 2in then you realized that this might be more difficult than you initially thought. But obviously the goal was always to create a program that could consistently compete and have the opportunity to play in March. “
Last season looked like their best chance to end the Final Four drought, with the Bears starting with 24 wins in 25 games before stumbling late in the season. But they were still on track for a seed of 1 – until the coronavirus pandemic caused the NCAA tournament to be canceled.
“It’s nice that these guys got to celebrate, especially after last year when we were about to get the first No.1 seed in school history and not get the chance to participate in the NCAA tournament, ”said Drew.
COVID-19 nearly derailed Baylor’s dream season for the second time this season, with the Bears being forced to take a three-week hiatus in February. A 17-0 pre-break record was quickly marred by a 13-point loss to Kansas in their second second leg. Baylor then lost again in the semi-finals of the Big 12 tournament, and there were questions during the NCAA tournament as to whether the Bears could regain the advantage they played with in the first three months of the season. .
“I don’t think we’ve ever lost confidence,” Teague said. “When we lost to Kansas, Kansas, it was like we had to lose eventually. Then we lost – but we felt like we weren’t at our best. We felt we had to. diagnose some things, correct some things. We felt that we would continue to improve as the season progressed, and we didn’t want to peak in January. We want to peak when we are currently peaking. We want to peak in January. keep getting better even going last week. “
Since some time elapsed between the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments, Baylor picked up victories over Hartford, Wisconsin, Villanova and then Arkansas on Monday.
“As a coach I wanted to believe we would come back, yeah, but there’s no book. So you don’t know for sure. You lose a game and you get knocked out,” Drew said. “I’m glad we are playing, and I think we continue to improve.”
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