
Academy basketball team wins NCAA tournament in five-player, seven-player sweep
THE academy basketball team at five-star Baylor University won the NCAA tournament with a 5-2 victory over perennial contender Gonzaga in a four-team, seven player, seven team sweep in a championship game on Saturday night at the Big 12 Tournament in Dallas.
The five-member team that won the tournament on Saturday, led by a five-time national champion forward in Isaiah Hicks, defeated Kansas and Missouri 4-3 to advance to the Sweet 16.
Hicks scored 16 points and had six rebounds for Baylor, which played its final game of the tournament against TCU and lost to Oklahoma State in the Round of 64.
The win also moved the Bears to the top of the Big Six standings, and the team has a shot at advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.
“It’s just a great feeling,” said Hicks, a forward from Fort Worth, Texas, who averaged 11.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in his first season with Baylor.
“Just knowing that I’m going to be a part of something that we’re all looking forward to doing is really exciting.”
The Bears are now ranked No. 4 in the country, four spots ahead of the top-seeded Kansas and two spots ahead and two behind No. 8 Oklahoma.
Kansas has lost nine straight games, including all three losses this season.
The Bears were the only undefeated team in the Big Twelve tournament.
“The best feeling I’ve ever had in my entire life is winning the NCAA,” said sophomore forward Dajuan Miller, who was named the tournament’s Big 12 Player of the Week.
“I’ve been around the team for a long time.
I’ve been on the team all year.
I just want to thank everybody, all my teammates, the coaches, the staff, and just everybody for making it possible for me to get here.”
The Big 12 tournament is the Big East tournament, which is the top tier of college basketball and has been held since 2005.
It is also the first major conference tournament to feature teams from Texas, Iowa and Oklahoma.
The other schools that participated in the tournament are TCU, Texas Tech, Baylor, Kansas, Missouri, Baylor State and Texas.
“We are all very proud of our team and all of the hard work they put in,” Texas head coach Frank Martin said.
They are doing a great, great job.” “
Our team has done a great job of staying on top of it.
They are doing a great, great job.”
Hicks scored 20 points and six rebounds as Baylor won the Big XII Tournament in May, finishing with a 16-9 record and a second-place finish in the conference standings.
“He’s one of the best players I’ve seen in the league,” Oklahoma head coach Mike Gundy said.
Oklahoma and Baylor have met seven times in the NCAA tourney.
Baylor won three of those matchups.
“There’s no way we would have gotten to the tournament without the effort of all of our players and coaches,” Gundy added.
“Their level of intensity was just unbelievable.
It’s going to take a lot to break through that.” “
They’re playing with a lot of intensity.
It’s going to take a lot to break through that.”
Baylor is one of five undefeated teams in the national championship series, which was announced in late May.
The four other undefeated teams are Kansas, Oklahoma State, TCU and Oklahoma City.
The winners of the Sweet 17 face the champion of the Final Four in the championship game, which will be held in New Orleans on Feb. 25.
The NCAA Tournament is played over four days.
The Sweet 16, which begins on Feb 25, is played in New York City.
Baylor beat Kansas in the Sweet 14 in May.