By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            INDIANAPOLIS – Putting together maybe its best 20 minutes of basketball all year, Baylor blew out to a 25-point halftime lead and never let up. 
            In the first-ever Final Four matchup of Texas teams, Jared Butler hit four 3-pointers and scored all 17 of his points in a dominant first half as the Bears (27-2) earned a spot in their first national championship game in 73 years with a 78-59 win over former Southwest Conference-rival Houston (28-4) in Saturday's NCAA national semifinals at Lucas Oil Stadium. 
            "That first half was about as well as any team could play against Houston," said Baylor coach Scott Drew, whose team will play top-ranked Gonzaga (31-0) in Monday's 8:20 p.m. CDT final. 
"Houston doesn't give you anything, you have to be really good. . . . If we're not where we were (before the COVID pause), I can't see the difference. Credit the guys for really buying in on the practice days we've had to get better and put in the work to get back to what they were."
            On Saturday, the Bears didn't look like they were back to where they were, they looked better than ever. 
            Led by Butler, who was 4-of-5 from outside the arc and 6-of-8 overall, Baylor shot a sizzling 57 percent in the first half, took a double-digit lead in the first 10 minutes and never let up. By the time Davion Mitchell hit a step-back buzzer-beating 3-pointer, the Bears had the largest halftime lead in a Final Four game in 18 years (45-20) and fourth-largest in history. 
            In a bad combination for the Cougars, it was the fewest first-half points they've scored this year and the most they've allowed. 
            "When we're all connected and we're all united, it's hard for anybody to beat us," said Butler, who had struggled in the first four NCAA Tournament games, hitting just 6-of-24 from 3-point range. "We've got a lot of guys who would start on other teams, easily. We've got a lot of pros, and I think that's why we're so good. That's why we're making it to the national championship game. And that's what we're going to need in the championship game as well."
            While Butler got his shooting touch back and Davion Mitchell had a double-double with 12 points and 11 assists, it was Baylor's bench that proved to be the difference in a game when Houston's starters actually outscored the Bears' starting five, 48-46. 
With Matthew Mayer (12) and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua (11) scoring in double figures and Adam Flagler chipping in with seven, Baylor's bench outscored the Houston reserves, 32-11.
            "All year long, our secret to success has been our bench," Drew said. "It's a starting rotation. Again, it's not five guys. We've got a starting rotation, and everybody comes in and provides a lift for us. I think that's been a big reason why we've been successful all year."
            In 37 years as a college coach, Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said he's never seen "five guards at that level" like Butler, Mitchell, Flagler, Mayer and MaCio Teague, who scored all 11 of his points in the second half to give the Bears their fifth double-figure scorer. 
            "There is no dropoff. And they're good at both ends," Sampson said. That may be the best team we've played in the seven years I've been here. We've beaten a lot of good teams – Oregon, LSU, Arkansas, Ohio State, a lot of teams. That's the best team that I've seen in the seven years I've been at Houston. They're really, really good."
            Sophomore guard Marcus Sasser scored 17 of his game-high 20 points in the first half and knocked down the second of his five 3-pointers to give the Cougars an early 8-6 lead. But, Mayer hit back-to-back buckets in a 10-0 run, and Butler drained a trey to give the Bears a double-digit lead, 22-11, at the 10:43 mark. 
            "I'm a shooter. Sometimes the ball goes in, sometimes the ball doesn't go in," Butler said. "It's just about me staying confident through it all. And tonight . . . thankfully, the ball went in when we needed it the most."
            Houston went through another extended scoring drought, missing five-straight shots, as Baylor closed the half on an 18-3 run and went into the break with a commanding 45-20 lead. The Bears assisted on 12 of their 16 first-half field goals, scored 13 points on the Cougars' nine turnovers and also dominated the boards, 20-11. 
            "We've got two high-level rebounding guards in (Quentin) Grimes and (DeJon) Jarreau," Sampson said. "At halftime, they had the same amount as I did – zero. When our guards aren't rebounding, we're going to struggle. . . . it puts all the pressure on two positions, and we can't rebound two positions against a team like Baylor."
            The Cougars made an early push in the second half, but were never able to get closer than 16. Scoreless in the first half, Teague made four second-half buckets and finished with 11 points and six assists. 
            "First half, (Butler) was rolling, people did a good job finding him," Drew said. "Second half, he did a great job not forcing things, and other people got going. And that's kind of what we've done all year long is feed the hot hand and share the ball."
            Grimes, the American Athletic Conference Player of the Year, scored all 13 of his points in the second half but was just 1-of-8 from 3-point range. Jarreau, the Midwest Region Most Outstanding Player, was 3-of-10 from the floor and scored six points. 
            Baylor advances to its first NCAA national championship game for the first time since a 58-42 loss to Kentucky in the 1948 final. The Bears are trying to win the school's fifth NCAA national championship and the first in a men's sport since the tennis team captured Baylor's first national title in 2004. 
            "That was one of my goals, and I know some of my teammates' goals, just to leave a legacy at Baylor, create Baylor as a blue blood," Butler said. 
            Mitchell set a Baylor program record with 11 assists in an NCAA Tournament game, the most in a Final Four game since 2003. And he is the first player since 1987 with double-digit assists and zero turnovers in a Final Four game. 
            Mondays championship game against Gonzaga pits the two teams that have been ranked No. 1-2 most of the season. Trying to become the first undefeated national champion since Indiana in 1976, Gonzaga defeated UCLA, 93-90, in overtime on Jalen Suggs' buzzer-beating 3-pointer. 
            When a Dec. 5 game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse was canceled because of COVID issues, Drew said, "If we end up playing this game in the Final Four or the champiobnship game, that sounds like a better idea."