Yale stuns Baylor for first-ever NCAA tournament win

PROVIDENCE, R.I.—In the past 15 NCAA tournaments, all four fifth-seeded teams have survived the round of 64 just once. On average, at least two No. 12 seeds advance to the round of 32, and in two of the past three years, three No. 12 seeds have upset their fifth-seeded foes.

So whether you call 12th-seeded Yale’s 79-75 upset of No. 5 seed Baylor the exception or the rule is entirely up to your discretion.

Fueled by sophomore guard Makai Mason’s 31-point, six-rebound, four-assist performance, the Bulldogs played the role of David to the Bears’ Goliath Thursday afternoon at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. The Greenfield, Mass., native’s career-high scoring performance was the most points scored by any Yale player in the NCAA tournament.

“I can’t tell you how proud I am of this group in terms of what they’ve accomplished thus far,” Yale head coach James Jones said. “It’s been building for a couple of years in terms of what we’ve done to get to this point, and it shows tonight.”

Yale’s improbable feat was not even a come-from-behind win—the Bulldogs had their guns blazing right out of the gates. Yale made its first 13 2-point attempts of the game—a streak that spanned 18:32 of game time. The Bulldogs finished the game shooting 64 percent from inside the arc, and scored 32 points in the paint against a much bigger Baylor squad. Yale took its first lead on a Mason triple with 7:06 remaining in the first half, and only surrendered that advantage once briefly at the start of the second period.

Although the Bulldogs extended their lead to a game-high 13 points with 7:14 remaining in the contest, the Bears did not go down without a fight. Baylor—led by senior Taurean Prince’s 12 points in the final seven minutes—continued to chip away at Yale’s lead until a 3-pointer from Prince made it a one-point game with just 14 seconds to go. But one clutch free throw from senior Nick Victor was enough to put the Bears away for good and to seal the victory for the Bulldogs.

“It did get a little dicey down the stretch, and I was very happy that we were able to knock down free throws that were very important,” Jones said. “Justin [Sears] missed two key ones that were important, but Makai [Mason] stepped up, Nick Victor made the front end of a one-and-one, and Brandon [Sherrod] was able to finish it off.”

In its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1962, Yale notched it first NCAA Tournament victory. The Bulldogs will face fourth-seeded Duke in the round of 32 Saturday at 2:40 p.m. with a chance to extend their historic run and to shock the world of college basketball for the second time in three days.