Baylor rolls to 25-point halftime lead and defeats Houston, 78-59, in NCAA Final Four

After spending much of the season ranked as the second-best team in the country, Baylor came out Saturday night in the national semifinals of the NCAA Tournament and proved it deserved to be among the last two teams standing.

The Bears put on a dazzling display of basketball at both ends of the court against Houston, racing out to a 25-point halftime lead, getting double-figure scoring from five players and coasting to a 78-59 victory over Houston at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Baylor (27-2), the South Region champion that defeated Villanova on its NCAA journey, advanced to Monday night’s national championship contest against the winner of Saturday night’s second game between No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga and No. 11 seed UCLA.

The Bears reached high gear immediately against the Cougars (28-4), putting together four separate runs of 10, 6, 6, and 11 points in taking a 45-20 lead at the break. Houston cut the deficit to 16 with 13 minutes left in the second half, but never got to a point where it could scare its opponent.

Baylor’s excellent three-guard combination controlled the game at different times. All-America Jared Butler scored all 17 of his points in the first half and MaCio Teague saved all 11 of his points for after halftime. Davion Mitchell excelled throughout, with 11 assists to go with 12 points.

The Bears dished out 23 assists on 29 field goals, shot 52.7% from the field and drained 11 threes.

“It’s really playing with poise, sharing the ball, making the extra passes,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “But the big thing was, we really guarded in the first half, really defended well, rebounded well. In the second half, Houston, you knew they were going to score. But we were able to hold them far enough at bay to not let them threaten.”

The Bears’ bench contributed 32 points, led by Matthew Mayer with 12 points and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchova with 11 and a team-high six rebounds. The pair accounted for five points each in the 10-0 run that sent Baylor on its way.

“I thought all year long, the secret to our success has been our bench,” Drew said. “It’s not five guys, we’ve got a starting rotation and everybody comes in and provides a lift for us. That’s been a big reason why we’ve been successful all year.”

Marcus Sasser led Houston with 20 points. Quentin Grimes, the team’s No. 1 scorer who went without a point in the first half, finished with 13.

Given the Bears’ efficiency, the biggest first-half surprise was that the Cougars actually led for 63 seconds -- 3-0 and 8-6 -- thanks to three-point baskets by Sasser. The freshman guard kept the half from being totally embarrassing by knocking down five threes and scoring 17 of Houston’s 20 points while the rest of the team went 1-of-14.

Baylor led, 27-17, when Butler sparked an 11-0 run with eight points, ending with a reverse layup with 4:09 to play that boosted the Bears’ margin to 21. Mitchell closed the period with five points in the final minute -- a long two-pointer and a three-point make with two seconds to play -- for the 25-point margin.

The Cougars came out for the second half determined to show the style of play that got them to the Final Four. They knocked down seven of their first nine shots from the floor in a 12-3 run that enabled them to shave the deficit down to 16, 52-36, on Grimes’ followup jumper with 13:06 left in the second half.

“Coach [Kelvin] Sampson, you know he’s going to make adjustments, he’s a great coach,” Drew said. “In the second half, we didn’t defend nearly as well.”

Still, a miracle comeback for Houston was not in the cards. Baylor got its margin back up to 20 with bench players Adam Flagler (baseline jumper) and Mayer (three-point basket) making contributions. Tchatchova hit a layup and two free throws to make it 64-41 with 6:48 remaining.