After an up-and-down season and a semifinals exit in the Big 12 tournament, the Baylor Bears were still able to receive an invite for the Big Dance. This will be the last chance for them to find some consistency and they’ll hope to do so when they prepare for a first-round date with the Yale Bulldogs. Can the Bears pull off the win here? Or will the Bulldogs send them packing immediately?
Read on below for a better look at this showdown. And while you’re at it, check out our other first-round previews: Iowa State vs. Iona and Utah vs. Fresno State.
This marks the ninth NCAA Tournament appearance for the Baylor Bears and they’ll hope to make the most out of this opportunity. The Bears have a lot of skilled scorers on their team, two of which are Taurean Prince and Rico Gathers. Both are averaging double-digits in points this season with 15.5 and 11.4 respectively.
Prince, in particular, has been the most impressive player for Baylor lately, as he’s averaging 18.2 points and 8.8 rebounds in his previous five games. But he’s bound to have his work cut out for him opposite their first-round opponent—the Yale Bulldogs—who are only giving up 63.5 points this season.
That said, Prince will likely need a lot of help on offense in this one and expect Gathers, Al Freeman and Jonathan Motley to answer the call. Freeman and Motley are both putting up around 11 points per contest, while Gathers has been making his presence felt by relentlessly crashing the boards (9.1 per game). His tenacity under the basket should be able to give the Bears some much-needed second-chance points and extra possessions.
Defensively, the Bears have got to play really well as well. They’ll be matching up against a Yale team that’s scoring almost 75 points per game and one that owns a handful of capable scorers in Makai Mason and Justin Sears.
Baylor, which is giving up 69.6 points per outing, is 5-5 SU and 7-3 ATS in its last 10 games.
It remains to be seen if the Yale Bulldogs’ defense will translate effectively against stronger opponents. But nevertheless, expect the Bulldogs to continue relying on that D to lead them towards a first-round victory over the Baylor Bears.
The Bulldogs, who are making their first NCAA tourney appearance since 1962, rank 15th in the nation with a defense that allows just 63.5 points on a meager 40.8 field goal shooting percentage.
They’ve also done a good job on challenging every shot near the cup as their interior defense is forcing opponents to shoot just 45.5% on two-point field goal attempts. But it’ll be intriguing to see, though, how their defense will fare against the Bears’ proven offense (76.3 points per game).
Speaking of offense, Yale has some skilled scoring threats to take note of. For one, there is Makai Mason, who is the team’s leading scorer (15.8 points per game). He enters this match with momentum on his side as he’s tallying 16.5 points in his past four contests. That stretch includes his 22-point output during their Ivy League finale versus Columbia on March 5.
Also, there are the two seniors Justin Sears and Brandon Sherrod who could help the Bulldogs light up the scoreboard further. Both are contributing 15.8 and 12.5 points this season respectively.
Yale is 2-8 SU and 5-4-1 ATS in its previous 10 games as the underdog.
Writer’s Prediction
Yale (+5) stuns Baylor with a thrilling 75-71 victory.
