2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game

The 2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game was the final game of the 2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

2021 NCAA tournament championship game

National championship game
Baylor Bears Gonzaga Bulldogs (27–2) (31–0) 86 70 Head coach: Scott Drew Head coach: Mark Few
AP: 3 Coaches: 3	AP: 1 Coaches: 1
1st half 2nd half Total Baylor Bears 47 39 86 Gonzaga Bulldogs 37 33 70
Date	April 5, 2021
Venue	Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana
MVP	Jared Butler, Baylor
Favorite	Gonzaga by 4.5^[1]
Referees	Randy McCall, Bo Boroski, Keith Kimble
National anthem	Greater Indianapolis area front line workers and first responders
United States TV coverage
Network	CBS
Announcers	Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill and Tracy Wolfson
Nielsen Ratings	9.39 (16.9 million viewers)
← 2019 2022 →

The Baylor Bears were crowned as the national champion for the 2020–21 season after beating the then-undefeated Gonzaga Bulldogs, 86–70. The game was played on April 5, 2021, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.^[2]

Gonzaga was the first team to enter the national championship game undefeated since Indiana State in 1979.^[3] Baylor became the second consecutive first-time NCAA champions following Virginia in 2019 (no tournament was held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

Participants

The championship game matched Baylor with Gonzaga. It was the sixth meeting between the two teams; Gonzaga entered the game leading the all-time series 5–0, with the last meeting resulting in an 83–71 win for Gonzaga in the second round of the 2019 NCAA tournament on March 23, 2019.^[4] This was the first championship game since 2005 to feature the top two overall seeds in the tournament.^[5]

This was the second consecutive championship game where both teams were playing for their programs' first NCAA title.^[6][7]

Baylor

Main article: 2020–21 Baylor Bears basketball team

Baylor, led by 18th-year head coach Scott Drew, finished the regular season with a record of 21–1, including wins over seven ranked teams.^[8] The Bears posted a 13–1 conference record,^[8] earning them the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 tournament,^[9] where they defeated No. 9 seed Kansas State in the quarterfinals before falling to No. 5 seed Oklahoma State in the semi-finals.^[10][11] They were awarded an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and received the No. 1 seed in the South Regional.^[12] In the tournament, they defeated No. 16 seed Hartford and No. 9 seed Wisconsin to reach their fifth Sweet Sixteen.^[13][14] The Bears then defeated No. 5 seed Villanova and No. 3 seed Arkansas to win the South Regional and reach their third Final Four.^[15][16]

In the Final Four, Baylor soundly defeated No. 2 seed Houston, champions of the Midwest Regional, by a score of 78–59 to reach their second national title game;^[17] they entered seeking their first championship.^[18]

Gonzaga

Main article: 2020–21 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team

Gonzaga, led by 22nd-year head coach Mark Few, finished the regular season with a perfect record of 24–0, including wins over four ranked teams.^[19] The Bulldogs posted a 15–0 conference record,^[19] earning them the No. 1 seed in the West Coast tournament,^[20] where they defeated No. 4 seed Saint Mary's and No. 2 seed BYU to win their 19th conference tournament championship.^[21][22] They received the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament and were placed in the West Regional.^[23] In the tournament, they defeated No. 16 seed Norfolk State and No. 8 seed Oklahoma to advance to their 11th Sweet Sixteen.^[24][25] Gonzaga then faced and defeated No. 5 seed Creighton and No. 6 seed USC to move to the Final Four for the second time.^[26][27]

In the Final Four, Gonzaga was matched up with No. 11 seed UCLA, the champions of the East Regional.^[28] A 3-point buzzer beater in overtime by Jalen Suggs won the game for the Bulldogs and gave Gonzaga their second national championship berth in program history; they entered seeking their first national title and the first unbeaten season in NCAA Division I men's basketball since Indiana in 1976.^[3][28]

Starting lineups

Baylor	Position		Gonzaga
Flo Thamba	F		Corey Kispert
MaCio Teague	G	F	Drew Timme
Davion Mitchell	G		Jalen Suggs
Jared Butler	G		Andrew Nembhard
Mark Vital	G		Joel Ayayi

Game summary

After winning the jump ball, Baylor controlled much of the first half. The Bears jumped out to an early 9–0 lead with multiple baskets each from Davion Mitchell and Jared Butler before Gonzaga's Andrew Nembhard scored a free throw. Gonzaga's first field goal came nearly five minutes into the game, with Corey Kispert's three-pointer that narrowed the lead back to nine, after a Mitchell jumper pushed the lead to double digits. A layup by Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua and a three-pointer by Butler pushed the lead to 12 points; shortly thereafter, a Drew Timme layup and a pair of Adam Flagler free throws kept the margin where it was, though it was extended to 15 within the next minute. Over the following several minutes, Baylor was able to take advantage of excellent offensive rebounding and Gonzaga turnovers to push the lead to 19, its highest point in the half and the largest deficit Gonzaga had faced all season.^[29] During the second part of the opening half, the game was much more even; Gonzaga was able to gradually chip away at the lead, with a last-second layup at the end of the half cutting the deficit to 10 at the break.^[30]

The second half started similarly to the first, though both teams came out scoring this time. The Bears increased their lead to 15 within the first two minutes, and Gonzaga again narrowed it to single digits momentarily with 14:30 to play. The teams traded scores for the next minute and a half, getting the score to 62–51 in favor of the Bears, before Baylor went on an 11–1 run, pushing the score to a game-high 20 points. Both teams began to see foul trouble affect them, as Baylor's Flo Thamba fouled out with 8:40 to play and Gonzaga's Timme was temporarily benched after accumulating four fouls shortly before. Baylor controlled the ball well throughout the half, committing their first second-half turnover with only eight minutes to play. The Bears kept the lead between 15 and 20 as the teams alternated scores over the remainder of the game. With around a minute to play, both teams substituted out most of their starters, and Baylor was able to run the remainder of the clock out to win their first national championship.^[30][31]

CBS

April 5, 2021 9:20 p.m. EDT

Report

No. 1 Baylor Bears 86, No. 1 Gonzaga Bulldogs 70
Scoring by half: 47–37, 39–33
Pts: Butler – 22 Rebs: Vital – 11 Asts: Butler – 7		Pts: Suggs – 22 Rebs: Timme – 5 Asts: Nembhard – 4

Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana Referees: Randy McCall, Bo Boroski, Keith Kimble

Starters: Pts Reb Ast F 0 Flo Thamba 3 6 0 G 12 Jared Butler 22 3 7 G 45 Davion Mitchell 15 6 5 G 31 MaCio Teague 19 2 0 G 11 Mark Vital 6 11 2 Reserves: F 32 Zach Loveday 0 0 0 F 23 Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua 6 2 1 F 32 Jordan Turner 0 0 0 G 4 L.J. Cryer 0 0 0 G 10 Adam Flagler 13 2 2 G 24 Matthew Mayer 2 2 1 G 13 Jackson Moffatt 0 0 0 G 35 Mark Paterson 0 0 0 Head coach: Scott Drew

Baylor^[32]         Gonzaga^[32]

Starters: Pts Reb Ast F 2 Drew Timme 12 5 3 F 24 Corey Kispert 12 3 2 G 1 Jalen Suggs 22 1 3 G 3 Andrew Nembhard 9 4 4 G 11 Joel Ayayi 8 2 1 Reserves: F 33 Ben Gregg 0 0 0 F 22 Anton Watson 4 0 1 G 55 Dominick Harris 0 0 0 G 0 Julian Strawther 3 0 0 G 4 Aaron Cook Jr. 0 2 2 Head coach: Mark Few

Media coverage

The championship game was televised in the United States by CBS. Jim Nantz provided play-by-play, while Bill Raftery and Grant Hill provided color commentary. Tracy Wolfson served as the sideline reporter. The pre-game show included analysis by Greg Gumbel, Clark Kellogg, and Kenny Smith; and the post-game show was anchored by Charles Barkley, Seth Davis, and Jim Jackson.^[33]

The broadcast was the least-watched national championship ever shown on broadcast television, as it pulled in 16.92 million viewers on CBS for an average rating of 9.4. This marked a 14% viewership decline from the last men's national championship broadcast, in 2019 between Virginia and Texas Tech.^[34]

Aftermath

 

Jared Butler of Baylor was named the tournament's MOP

The win gave Baylor their first national championship in school history, and denied Gonzaga their first title and the first NCAA Division I men's basketball perfect season since Indiana in 1976.^[35][31] The loss was Gonzaga's first and only of the season, as they ended the year with a 31–1 record,^[36] while Baylor improved to 28–2 with the victory.^[37] After the game, Baylor coach Scott Drew was presented with the national championship trophy, and Bears guard Jared Butler was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA tournament.^[38] Baylor's win was widely considered an upset, with Gonzaga considered a "massive favorite" to win the title by ESPN and Yahoo!'s platforms.^[39] Gonzaga never led during the game, and their 70 points were the fewest they had scored all season; the Bulldogs entered the championship averaging 91.6 points per game, the best in the nation.^[40] In addition, this was also Baylor's first win over Gonzaga in program history; they were 0–5 in previous meetings.^[4] Baylor also became the first team from the state of Texas to win the national championship since Texas Western in 1966.^[41]

See also

• 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship Game
• 2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

Notes

References

1. Ptterson, Chip (April 3, 2021). "Gonzaga vs. Baylor odds: Zags opens as favorite in national championship game after Final Four buzzer-beater". CBS Sports. from the original on April 4, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
2. "2021 March Madness: Complete schedule, dates, TV times". NCAA.com. from the original on March 14, 2021. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
3. Morey, Jordan (March 31, 2021). "13 ridiculous stats that show off undefeated Gonzaga's historical dominance". NCAA.com. from the original on April 1, 2021. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
4. "2020–21 Baylor Bears Men's Basketball Media Almanac" (PDF). Baylor University Athletics. p. 98. (PDF) from the original on March 26, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
5. "Gonzaga vs. Baylor for the NCAA Tournament championship is the perfect way to end an imperfect season". CBS Sports. from the original on April 5, 2021. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
6. Mather, Victor (April 8, 2019). "N.C.A.A. Men's Final Preview: New Faces and a Slow Pace". The New York Times. from the original on November 25, 2022. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
7. "Gonzaga vs. Baylor odds: 2021 National Championship game picks, March Madness predictions from proven model". CBS Sports. April 5, 2021. from the original on April 6, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
8. "2020–21 Baylor Bears Schedule". ESPN.com. from the original on March 30, 2021. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
9. "Seeds Set for Big 12 Men's Basketball Championship". Big 12 Conference. from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
10. "Baylor survives Big 12 Tournament scare against Kansas State 74–68". KXXV. March 11, 2021. from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
11. "OK St. stuns Baylor, nears 'vision' of Big 12 title". ESPN.com. March 13, 2021. from the original on March 16, 2021. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
12. "MBB Earns NCAA Tournament No. 1 Seed". Baylor University Athletics. from the original on March 10, 2023. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
13. "Baylor finds its touch, rolls to 79–55 victory over Hartford". ESPN.com. from the original on March 21, 2021. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
14. Potrykus, Jeff. "Badgers ousted from NCAA Tournament as Bears take advantage of UW's first-half mistakes". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. from the original on April 11, 2021. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
15. Woods, David. "Not this time — but for a program like Villanova, there always seems to be a next time". The Indianapolis Star. from the original on March 10, 2023. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
16. "Bears in first Final Four since 1950 after holding off Razorbacks". CBS Sports. from the original on May 10, 2021. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
17. Horner, Scott. "Baylor earns a spot in its first March Madness national championship game". The Indianapolis Star. from the original on April 4, 2021. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
18. Dellenger, Ross. "Baylor Unleashes Full Fury on Houston in Statement Rout". Sports Illustrated. from the original on April 4, 2021. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
19. "2020–21 Gonzaga Bulldogs Schedule". ESPN.com. from the original on March 30, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
20. "No. 1/1 MBB Faces Saint Mary's in WCC Tournament Semifinals". Gonzaga University Athletics. from the original on March 12, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
21. "No. 1 Gonzaga blows out Saint Mary's 78–55 in WCC semifinals". Gonzaga University Athletics. from the original on March 10, 2023. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
22. "No. 1 Gonzaga rallies to beat BYU 88–78 in WCC title game". Gonzaga University Athletics. from the original on March 10, 2023. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
23. "Zags Open with Either Appalachian State or Norfolk State". Gonzaga University Athletics. from the original on March 10, 2023. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
24. "No. 1 Gonzaga opens NCAA Tournament with big win over Norfolk State". The Spokesman-Review. from the original on March 20, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
25. Booth, Tim (March 22, 2021). "Drew Timme leads No. 1 seed Gonzaga past Oklahoma at men's NCAA Tournament". Oregon Live. from the original on March 22, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
26. Giambalvo, Emily. "Gonzaga moves three wins from perfection with a masterful offensive show vs. Creighton". Washington Post. from the original on March 28, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
27. "USC's Final Four dreams shattered in Elite Eight loss to top-seeded Gonzaga". Los Angeles Times. March 30, 2021. from the original on April 1, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
28. Elassar, Alaa; Lev, Jacob; Dotson, Kevin (April 3, 2021). "Gonzaga defeats UCLA with buzzer beater and will face Baylor in NCAA men's basketball title game". CNN. from the original on April 4, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
29. "Baylor routs Gonzaga as Bears win first national title, end Zags' perfect season". CBS Sports. April 6, 2021. from the original on April 6, 2021. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
30. "ESPN Play-by-Play – Baylor vs. Gonzaga – April 5, 2021". ESPN.com. April 5, 2021. from the original on March 10, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
31. "Baylor overwhelms Gonzaga to win NCAA title". ESPN.com. April 5, 2021. from the original on April 6, 2021. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
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33. "Turner Sports and CBS Sports announce 2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship commentator teams". NCAA.com. March 11, 2021. from the original on March 12, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
34. "Nearly 17 million watch Baylor bully Bulldogs". Sports Media Watch. April 7, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
35. Li, David K. (April 5, 2021). "Baylor denies Gonzaga's bid for perfection, wins first men's basketball championship". NBC News. from the original on April 6, 2021. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
36. "2020–21 Men's Basketball Schedule". Gonzaga University Athletics. from the original on April 26, 2021. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
37. "2020–21 Baylor Bears Men's Basketball Schedule". Baylor University Athletics. from the original on March 10, 2023. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
38. "Baylor dominates to win first national title, denies Gonzaga perfection". NCAA.com. April 5, 2021. from the original on April 14, 2021. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
39. Blinder, Alan (April 5, 2021). "Baylor Romps Past Gonzaga for National Title". The New York Times. from the original on April 5, 2021. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
40. "Baylor beatdown: Bears win title, hang 86–70 loss on Gonzaga". ESPN.com. April 6, 2021. from the original on April 6, 2021. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
41. Bender, Bill (April 6, 2021). "Baylor ends Gonzaga's perfect season with a Texas-sized storybook finish". Sporting News. from the original on September 29, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2023.

External links

• 2021 NCAA Division I Men's Final Four