MBB Falls to Top-Seeded Gonzaga

Saturday, March 23

Salt Lake City, Utah

6:10 p.m. CT

Baylor

20-14

Gonzaga

32-3

Baylor

Gonzaga

MBB Falls to Top-Seeded Gonzaga

3/23/2019 10:26:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score PDF Box Postgame Notes

Makai Mason and King McClure had 17 and 15 points, respectively.

  SALT LAKE CITY, Utah– This is what makes top-seeded Gonzaga so tough. The Zags are far from a one-man team.
            On a night when Baylor (20-14) held All-American junior forward Rui Hachimura to just six points on 2-of-6 shooting, Brandon Clarke had a career game with 36 points, eight rebounds and five blocks as Gonzaga (32-3) held off a second-half rally to defeat the Bears, 83-71, in Saturday's second-round NCAA Tournament matchup at the Vivint Smart Home Arena.
            "There's a reason he's on the (NBA) draft board," Baylor coach Scott Drew said of the 6-foot-8 Clarke, who scored nearly 20 points above his 16.4 scoring average. "That's what makes Gonzaga really good. It's like plugging holes in a dam. You can plug three, but that fourth one gets you. And the biggest stat line was that he drew nine fouls on people guarding him.'
            That included undersized sophomore forward Mark Vital, who scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half before fouling out with 16 seconds left.
            "Him getting in foul trouble hurt us. And block/charge calls are always the toughest to make," said Drew, referencing a questionable call when Vital picked up his fourth foul less than four minutes into the second half. "When he got in foul trouble, he still competed until the end. I thought they did a good job picking on him and putting him in a position where he couldn't give much resistance.
            "Gonzaga, not only are they really talented and well-coached, but they are experienced. We had a lot of guys, it was their first time playing on this stage. And I thought we did a great job the first game. I thought our youth probably showed up a little bit in that first half."
            The Zags led by as many as 19 in the first half and went into the break up 39-23, holding the Bears to just 30 percent shooting overall (8-of-27) and 1-of-10 from outside the arc. Clarke hit 8-of-10 and scored 18 in the first half.
            "I was really locked-in and focused tonight," said Clarke, who set a Gonzaga program record with his 36 points and became just the third player in NCAA Tournament history to record at least 35 points and five blocks, joining Shaquille O'Neal and David Robinson. "I mean, if it wasn't me, it was somebody else on the team making shots, too. So, hats off to my teammates, really. I feel like I was focused tonight, so the shots fell easy."
            Baylor started the second half on a 10-0 run, closing to within 39-33. Playing their final game in a Baylor uniform, senior guards Makai Mason and King McClure started the run with back-to-back 3-pointers, followed by consecutive layups by Vital.
            "They're a physical, tough, hard-nosed team. They're like a football team almost, the way they rebound and how physical they are around the basket," said Gonzaga coach Mark Few, whose team is making its fifth consecutive trip to the Sweet 16. "They jumped us, and we were back on our heels. That's not how we played the first 20 minutes. We kind of lost our way in guarding the three line. They hit two threes, bang out of the jump, just on a little casualness and one missed assignment."
            The Bears got as close as 43-38 on a three-point play by Vital with 16:34 to go, but then he picked up two fouls in a four-second stretch and had to spend a lot of the remaining 16-plus minutes on the bench.
            After Gonzaga built the lead back up to 15, Baylor pulled back within eight twice in the last 7 ½ minutes, but could never get any closer. Clarke added two buckets and a pair of free throws down the stretch to break Adam Morrison's previous tournament record of 35 points.
            Mason and King scored 17 and 15 points, respectively, while the 6-5 Vital had 17 points, eight rebounds and two steals. The Bears, who also got 11 points from freshman guard Jared Butler, shot just 4-of-21 from 3-point range and got dominated on the boards, 39-27.
            "Gonzaga beat us today, but we didn't tap out and we did what we've done all year. And that's compete and fight hard to the end," Drew said.
            "All year, we've never tapped out, we've never given up," said McClure, who made three NCAA Tournament appearances in his four seasons at Baylor.
            A grad transfer from Yale who spent just one season with the Bears, Mason said he was "very thankful and grateful that I got the opportunity to play here."
            "Being a part of the Baylor family, even for one year, has really meant a lot to me. I've really grown to love the coaching staff and the players as well. Just being doubted all year, to see the fight that this team has, it's awesome. I can't say enough about them, about the guys, their spirit. So, I'm thankful I made the decision to spend my last year here."
            Gonzaga advances to face fourth-seeded Florida State (29-7) in the West Regional semifinals next weekend in Anaheim, Calif. The Seminoles cruised to a 90-62 win over 12^th-seeded Murray State in a second-round matchup in Hartford, Conn.