NCAA Basketball Finals Preview

Battle of the one seeds

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In a battle of the one seeds, Gonzaga takes on Baylor for the NCAA National Championship game starting tonight at 9:20 PM ET. Which team will secure their schools first ever championship?

   After the phenomenal game-winner by Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs in an overtime victory against UCLA(watch here), the two teams are set in what will be the battle of the one seeds between Gonzaga and Baylor. Gonzaga is the first team since 1979 to remain undefeated heading into the championship game as they look to complete the immaculate season last done by Indiana University. As for Baylor, they look to win their first-ever NCAA championship in what should be a great game.

Gonzaga

   This team possesses a full arsenal of weapons, starting with big man Drew Timme. Timme is averaging 19.2 points, 7.1 rebounds, and is shooting 65.4% from the field this year. In the last four games in the tournament, he has been puting 25 points a game and hasn’t shot worse than 60% in any of the games during March Madness. Moving onto the point guard Suggs, Suggs is putting up averages of 14.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.9 steals per game. He is a man on a mission and has shot the ball to put them in the position they are in…(literally). Next is Corey Kispert. Kispert is the best three-point shooter on the team and one of the leaders of the team. Shooting 44.5% from three and averaging 18.8 points per game, he will be a very important part of the team’s success. 

Gonzaga team stats

Baylor

   What makes this team so good? The guards that they have at their disposal. Four of their guards shoot 40% or more from the three, and six of their guards shoot 45% or more from the field. Led by the three starting guards in Jared Butler, Davion Micthell, and MaCio Teague, they are arguably the best frontcourt in the nation. After beating one of the top defenses in the country in Houston by over 20 points, they are heading strong into their bout with Gonzaga. 

Baylor team stats

In the end, what this game will come down to is Gonzaga’s Timme. If (and that’s a big if) Baylor can do a solid job of protecting the paint and slowing him down, Baylor will win this game.