No. 6 Baylor tops No. 8 Ole Miss in Sugar Bowl; Corral hurt
Al Walcott set a Sugar Bowl record with a 96-yard interception return, Monaray Baldwin raced 48 yards for the go-ahead score on an end around, and sixth-ranked Baylor beat No. 8 Mississippi 21-7 as injured Rebels quarterback Matt Corral looked on from the sideline.
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Reagan junior Samantha Wagner discusses reopening college recruitment
After Kim Mulkey announced she was leaving the Baylor program to head to LSU, Reagan junior Samantha Wagner made the difficult decision to reopen her college recruitment. The Rattler star had been committed to play for the Bears since she was in 8th grade as a result of her friendship with Mulkey, and has not yet determined where she'll play in the future.
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Final Four set, a question left: Can anybody beat Gonzaga?
(AP Photo/Darron Cummings)It’s not easy to bury a team as good as USC, let alone in a half, no matter how easy Gonzaga made it look. He asked Few the day before their game against the high-flying Trojans whether his defense was getting lost in the shuffle. “Obviously, I think he’s the best defender in the country,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. Then Baylor’s bout with the virus came late in the season, requiring a pause of three weeks plus. After everything else fans weathered throughout this wacky season, a few more days might finally deliver a national championship game worth the wait.
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Gonzaga's bid for a perfect season moves on to Final Four
Gonzaga (30-0) has been an offensive juggernaut rarely seen in college basketball. Ad“Everyone wants us to keep moving forward, but that’s not how we roll,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. That doesn’t lessen our desire to win this game, the next game or win two more games.”The next one won't be easy. The Bears were embroiled in one of the darkest scandals in college basketball history, when Patrick Dennehy was murdered by teammate Carlton Dotson in 2003. They played in the Final Four.”___More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/College-basketball and http://www.twitter.com/AP_Top25
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Baylor coach calls for end of COVID-19 testing for Final Four, implies players should participate if they test positive
As of Saturday, there had been two confirmed positive tests at the women’s tournament with over 15,400 administered. The last positive result among the players, coaches and others working at the tournament was reported on March 22 from daily antigen testing. Six conference teams qualified for the women’s tournament: Stanford, Oregon, Oregon State, Arizona, Washington State and UCLA. Night in and night out in the Pac-12, we’re playing teams like Stanford, UCLA, great teams, Oregon State, Oregon. FINAL FOUR MEMORIESTara VanDerveer remembers very well the feeling of finally coaching Stanford to the Cardinal’s first Final Four berth.
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Baylor beats Arkansas 81-72 for first Final Four in 71 years
(AP Photo/Michael Conroy)INDIANAPOLIS – Baylor had been on the cusp of the Final Four twice before under coach Scott Drew, falling to the eventual champion both times. Baylor is headed there for the first time in 71 years, getting 22 points from MaCio Teague and a dominating defensive performance from Davion Mitchell to beat Arkansas 81-72 on Monday night. The top-seeded Bears (26-2) appeared to be barreling toward ending their Final Four drought with a dominating start. That left the Bears short of the Final Four dating back to when the bracket was only eight teams. He gave Arkansas all kinds of trouble on the pick-and-roll in the second half, finishing with 12 points and six assists.
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What To Watch: men’s, women’s regional finals start Monday
... Oregon State opponents are shooting just 31.3% overall and 23.1% from 3-point range in the NCAA Tournament. That Missouri squad lost a regional final to an Oklahoma team coached by Kelvin Sampson, who’s now at Houston. … Arkansas is in a regional final for the first time since 1995, when it lost to UCLA in the championship game. … Arkansas’ Justin Smith is averaging 20.3 points and 11 rebounds in three NCAA Tournament games. Arizona and Indiana are both in an NCAA regional final for the first time.
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Close range: Baylor grinds to Elite 8 in 62-51 win ova 'Nova
Davion Mitchell, a 46% shooter from 3 this season, went 0 for 3 from long range on a 14-point day. Jared Butler scored nine points on 1-for-9 shooting from 3, and MaCio Teague had five points without a 3. The guards did a great job of not settling and probing more.”Because of that, Baylor shot 53% in the second half, even though it made only one 3. Constantly harassing Villanova shooters who'd carved out space in the first half, Baylor held Villanova to 37.5% shooting in the second and 0 for 9 from 3. Forward Brandon Slater left the game about midway through the second half after landing awkwardly during a fight for a rebound.
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Ursin, Smith lead No. 5 Baylor to big win in NCAA opener
SAN ANTONIO – Moon Ursin scored a career-high 24 points, All-American NaLyssa Smith had a double-double and fifth-ranked Baylor had no problem in its women’s NCAA Tournament opener, cruising to a 101-52 win over Jackson State on Sunday. Smith scored 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds for the second-seeded Bears (26-2), who face seventh-seeded Virginia Tech on Tuesday in the River Walk Region. Baylor, the national leader in field-goal defense (31.8%) and rebounding margin (plus-19), limited Jackson State to 30.9% shooting, including 2 of 19 from 3-point range, and had a 59-35 rebounding advantage. Ursin, who was 3 of 3 behind the arc, had 16 points and Smith was 5 of 6 for 12 points, and the Bears led 51-24. The Bears shot 54.5% and held Jackson State to 27.8% for a 51-24 lead.
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No. 1 seed Baylor beats Wisconsin 76-63 to reach Sweet 16
The Bears answered the run with a dash of more D to reach the Sweet 16 for the fifth time under coach Scott Drew. Dominant Baylor showed up in the opener after a shaky start, hitting 11 3-pointers in a 79-55 win over Hartford. The Sweet 16 bid fell short when the shots wouldn't fall down the stretch. Baylor showed glimpses of the dominating D from its fast start to the season. The Bears let up a little in the second half, but it was plenty good enough to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2017.
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The Latest: Appleby cleared to play for Florida
(AP Photo/Michael Conroy)The Latest on the second round of the NCAA Tournament (all times Eastern):___7:45 p.m.Florida guard Tyree Appleby has been cleared to play and was in the starting lineup for No. 1 seed in the second round for a third time, joining the 2000 team against Arizona and the 2017 squad against Villanova. Sister Jean Delores Schmidt gave an inspirational pregame prayer to her Loyola Chicago team before the eighth-seeded Ramblers met top-seeded Illinois in Sunday’s second round. UCLA and Abilene Christian face off Monday, assuring that at least one double-digit seed will reach the Sweet 16. This is the first time four teams seeded 13th or worse made it to the second round.
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The Latest: 12th-seeded Oregon State upsets No. 5 Tennessee
(AP Photo/Paul Sancya)The Latest on the first round of the NCAA Tournament (all times Eastern):___6:50 p.m.Another first-round upset as 12th-seeded Oregon State defeated No. 9 seed Georgia Tech 71-60 on Friday to mark a triumphant return to the NCAA Tournament. Senior guard Bubba Parham, who is 5-10, got the start instead as Georgia Tech went with a guard-heavy look. AdIllinois will face eighth-seeded Loyola Chicago or ninth-seeded Georgia Tech in the second round of the Midwest Regional on Sunday. Ad___2:10 p.m.Players from several NCAA Tournament teams took a knee during the playing of the national anthem before their first-round games.
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What some advanced stats may tell us about the NCAA field
(AP Photo/Young Kwak, File)Two years ago, before the start of the last NCAA Tournament, we presented a system that could help narrow down the bracket, using advanced stats from recent seasons. Virginia, one of six teams that passed all of our statistical tests, did in fact win the national championship. To review: This method uses six stats in which every champion since 2008 has ranked in the top half of Division I. All these stats are available at barttorvik.com — and we'll use that information to pare down this year's contenders. Effective field goal percentage (eFG%) is a measure of field goal percentage in which 3-pointers are given extra weight.
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Gonzaga, Baylor dominate AP All-America teams
(AP Photo/Chuck Burton, File)Gonzaga and Baylor spent almost the entire season holding down the top two spots in the Top 25. Makes sense they'd hold down a bunch of spots on The Associated Press All-America teams. The Bulldogs' Corey Kispert and the Bears' Jared Butler led the way with first-team nods Tuesday from the national panel of 63 media members that vote each week in the AP Top 25 poll. Just like the first- and second-team All-Americans, their teams also will be playing in the NCAA Tournament this week. ___AP Basketball Writer John Marshall and AP Sports Writers Michael Marot and Stephen Hawkins contributed to this report.