The Baylor Bears dominated from the outset and went on to beat Gonzaga 86-70 in the men’s basketball national championship game Monday night at Lucas Oil Stadium. Gonzaga’s pursuit of perfection ended at 31-1, as the Bulldogs fell short of becoming the first undefeated D1 men’s champion since IU went 32-0 in 1976. Baylor took an 11-1 lead going into the first timeout and led by double digits nearly the entire game en route to the program’s first-ever national championship. The Bears are coached by Butler graduate and former Valparaiso coach Scott Drew.
Indiana basketball announced that former Hoosiers guard Dane Fife is joining Mike Woodson’s staff as the associate head coach. Fife spent the last 10 seasons under Tom Izzo on the Michigan State staff. The 41-year-old previously spent six seasons as the head coach at IPFW before joining the Spartans bench. Fife played at IU from 1998 through 2002 and was a starter on the IU team that made it to the national championship game in 2002. The Michigan native said in a statement he intends to help bring home a sixth national championship to the Hoosiers.
A pair of IU freshmen announced Monday that they will withdraw their names from the NCAA transfer portal and return to Bloomington for their sophomore seasons. Guard Khristian Lander and forward Jordan Geronimo had considered transferring, but decided to stay and play under new coach Mike Woodson. The Evansville native Lander was a 5-star recruit who reclassified from the class of 2021 to enter college a year early. Lander struggled and scored 2.1 points and 1.2 assists per game in 26 games. Geronimo was a four-star recruit originally from Newark, New Jersey and averaged 2.2 points and 1.8 rebounds in 21 games.
The Indiana Pacers host their division rival Chicago Bulls Tuesday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The shorthanded Pacers beat the San Antonio Spurs Saturday night without starters Domantas Sabonis and Malcolm Brogdon. Both remain questionable for Tuesday night’s matchup with Chicago, which enters play 20-28 and losers of four straight on the road. The Pacers have won 10 out of the last 11 against the Bulls, although Chicago won the most recent matchup on February 15th. Chicago and Indiana tip off at 7 p.m. Eastern from downtown Indianapolis.
Willson Contreras, Javier Baez and David Bote all homered in the fourth inning as the Chicago Cubs defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 5-3 at Wrigley Field. Elsewhere in the Majors, Minnesota handled Detroit 15-6, and Kansas City blanked Cleveland 3-0. The Cincinnati Reds stayed red-hot with a 5-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, while the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Miami Marlins 4-1. The Chicago White Sox bounced back with a 6-0 win over the Seattle Mariners.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing announced Monday that Santino Ferrucci will drive a third entry for the team in an attempt to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 in May. Ferrucci spent the last two seasons full-time in IndyCar driving for Dale Coyne Racing before moving to the NASCAR Xfinity Series on a limited basis this season. In his first Indianapolis 500, Ferrucci finished seventh and took home Rookie of the Year honors before finishing fourth last year. The 22-year-old Connecticut native will pilot the number 45 Honda with sponsorship from supermarket chain Hy-Vee.
