NCAA Tournament: Yale Bulldogs upset Baylor Bears in first round

Yale played in its first NCAA Tournament game in more than 50 years and the Bulldogs didn’t disappoint.

The Ivy League Champion Yale Bulldogs battled the Baylor Bears from the Big 12 Conference in another First Round NCAA Tournament game in Providence on Thursday afternoon. The Bulldogs came out on top in the biggest upset of the tournament so far, defeating the Bears 79-75.

The Bulldogs hadn’t played in the Big Dance since 1962, and had never won a game in tournament history. The Bulldogs surely didn’t disappoint by any means against the fifth-seeded Bears from Baylor.

Baylor was upset last year in the first round by R.J. Hunter and Georgia State. The Bears were a three-seed last year, and many wondered if they would be ousted in the first round again in the 2016 Big Dance.

Well, we have our answer.

This game went down to the wire. Literally, this game came down to the final two seconds. Yale and Baylor each traded punches, with Yale leading by as many as 13 at one point in this game.

Yale hit four straight free throws in the final ten seconds to seal the victory, and their first ever win in the NCAA Tournament.

Guard Nick Victor split a pair of free throws with 6.8 seconds left to give Baylor the ball, down by just two. Baylor guard Lester Medford turned the ball over and the Bears committed a foul to send Brandon Sherrod to the line with 2.2 seconds remaining. Sherrod knocked down a pair to clinch the upset for the Bulldogs from the Ivy League.

The biggest story of the game: Yale guard Makai Mason. Mason scored a career-high 31 points on 9-18 from the field, including going a perfect 11-of-11 from the charity stripe to send Yale to the Round of 32. Their opponent is none other than the defending champion Duke Blue Devils.

Justin Sears added 18 points for Yale on 7-of-10 from the field, as the Bulldogs shot a surprising 53 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Bears besides having an obvious size disadvantage.

Baylor sure hung around for the entire game, and came roaring back late in the second half thanks to Taurean Prince. Prince and Rico Gathers got into an argument on the sidelines in the second half, leading Prince to stay on the bench for quite some time.

Prince would come back into the game, and finish as the Bears leading scorer on the afternoon. Prince finished with 28 points on 12-of-24 from the field.

Prince was huge for the Bears down the stretch with a couple of big dunks, and a clutch three-pointer with less than 15 seconds left to bring the Bears within a point.

Johnathan Motley was the only other Bear to score in double-figures, finishing with 15 points and seven boards on a 5-10 clip. Baylor shot a decent 44 percent overall from the field, but were just 9-of-15 from the free throw line, which is good for 60 percent.

The Bears committed a lot of fouls, finishing with 24 personal fouls to Yale’s 17 fouls. Prince was called for a technical after a slam dunk in which he flung his legs in the air and hung on to the rim.

For Baylor, their season is cut short unexpectedly, as they once again fail to live up to expectations.

For Yale, they will prepare to face the Duke Blue Devils on Saturday afternoon for a trip to the Sweet 16.

Can the improbable storybook run continue for Yale? Can they defeat the team that won it all last season?

More busting brackets: Previewing the West Region

We will see come Saturday.

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