CINCINNATI — Two former University of Cincinnati men's soccer players have announced they are transferring to Northern Kentucky University less than a month after UC discontinued its program.

Former UC freshman midfielder Ben Hegge (Moeller graduate) and former UC freshman forward Sam Robinson (Talawanda) announced on Twitter their intentions to transfer to NKU and play for the men's soccer program.

"It's awesome," Hegge told WCPO.

Both players decided to transfer from UC after Athletic Director John Cunningham announced April 14 the men's soccer program was being discontinued immediately after a comprehensive review of the department's budget.

The UC men's soccer program was started in 1973 and the team had an all-time record of 385-408-84.

Hegge said it was a hectic experience the past few weeks especially with final exams going on, too. Hegge said he reached out to NKU and really believes in the coaching staff and their commitment to the program. He also considered the University of Dayton.

In the end, NKU proved to be the best fit.

"Selfishly, it's fantastic for the Welker family who went to the majority of his home games last year at UC," Welker told WCPO. "Mason and Levi (two of Welker's sons) love watching him play."

Welker couldn't overstate how significant of a loss the UC men's program would be for college recruiting in the Cincinnati area, but he said Monday he is very glad Hegge was able to land with the Norse.

"For Moeller this just continues another pathway and pipeline for our guys to continue to play high-level Division I soccer in front of their families here locally," Welker said. "We're so pumped for Ben and so happy he was able to land at a great location that plays a great style of soccer."

The Norse (7-10-1 in 2019) picked up two significant wins over 2019 Horizon League tournament champions Wright State and 2018 Horizon League tournament champions University of Illinois at Chicago. NKU is coached by Stu Riddle, who completed his third season with the Norse in 2019.

"I hope to reach out to Coach Riddle and get a game or two at NKU's stadium to hopefully provide even more exposure for Moeller guys in the future," Welker said.

New research published in Jama Neurology found that college football players suffer more concussions during practice than in games.

The research tracked players from six Division I schools over five seasons and found 72% of concussions happened during practice.

"These data point to a powerful opportunity for policy, education, and other prevention strategies to make the greatest overall reduction in concussion incidence and HIE in college football, particularly during preseason training and football practices throughout the season, without major modification to gameplay," researchers said. "Strategies to prevent concussion and HIE have important implications to protecting the safety and health of football players at all competitive levels."

According to researchers, 528,684 head impacts were recorded from 658 players over five seasons.

Research showed that 48.5% of concussions occurred during preseason training, despite preseason representing only 20.8% of the season.

The NCAA will allow a limited number of fans to attend all rounds of its men's basketball tournament in Indiana and later rounds of its women's tournament in Texas.

The governing body said Friday it is permitting 25% capacity at the men's tournament venues to allow for social distancing. That figure will include all participants and essential staff along with the family members of team players and coaches.

On the women's side, the NCAA will allow a capacity of up to 17% at each venue from the Sweet 16 to the Final Four. Games taking place for the first two rounds will limit attendance to team guests.

In each case, attendees must wear face coverings, while cleaning and disinfecting efforts will be emphasized at venues in keeping with COVID-19 safety protocols. The NCAA said it acted in conjunction with local health officials for each tournament.

NCAA chief medical officer Brian Hainline said the decision for the men's tournament also followed conversations with the organization's medical advisory group and will rely on testing and monitoring services from the Indiana University Health system.

“The No. 1 priority for decisions around the tournament continues to be the safety and well-being of everyone participating in the event,” Hainline said.

The NCAA had previously announced the 68-team tournament will be played entirely in Indiana because of the pandemic, with most games in Indianapolis. The tournament will begin with First Four games on March 18 at home arenas for Big Ten Conference schools Purdue and Indiana, with those venues located about a one-hour drive — in opposite directions — from downtown Indianapolis.

At Indiana, the school said it will allow up to 500 fans for tournament games at Assembly Hall with some seats reserved for local medical workers and first responders who have been vaccinated.

The Final Four takes place in Indianapolis on April 3. The national championship game follows two days later.

For the women, the 64-team tournament is being held in the San Antonio region, with first-round games beginning March 21. The Final Four will be held in the Alamodome in San Antonio on April 2, followed by the national championship game on April 4.

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Michigan clinched the Big Ten regular season championship, and are headed to the Big Dance as a top 1 seed. They play the winner of the 16 seed play-in game (Mount St. Mary's vs. Texas Southern) on Saturday, March 20. 

UCLA and Michigan State was the most-watched First Four game since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 68 teams in 2011, according to CBS and Turner Sports.

The networks said the Bruins overtime victory against Michigan State averaged 3 million viewers and peaked at 3.3 million from 11 p.m.-11:15 p.m. EDT, based on data from Nielsen.

Overall, the four games played Thursday and televised on TBS and truTV drew 7.6 million viewers across all platforms, including streaming.

Viewership was up 36% from 2019′s First Four, according to the networks. The entire First Four was played on one day for the first time in this tournament. Usually, two of the games are played on Tuesday and the other two on Wednesday when the tournament is in a normal schedule.

Video above: Bars prepare for masked March Madness

If the pregame prayer sounded more like a scouting report, it was. And if Sister Jean didn't have any plans for next weekend, well, she does now.

Loyola Chicago carried out its 101-year-old superfan's plans to a T on Sunday, moving to the Sweet 16 with a 71-58 win over Illinois, the first No. 1 seed bounced from this year's NCAA Tournament.

Cameron Krutwig delivered a 19-point, 12-rebound masterpiece and the quick-handed, eighth-seeded Ramblers (26-4) led wire to wire. They befuddled a powerful Illinois offense to return to the second weekend three years after their last magical run to the Final Four.

A hard habit to break for these Ramblers. And a classic case of nun-and-done for the Illini.

Loyola Chicago will next play either Oklahoma State or Oregon State, who were set to meet later Sunday.

"We just executed, played our game and controlled the game from the start," Krutwig said. "Nobody was really doing anything out of body or out of mind. We just stuck to the game plan."

Who wrote it?

Some of Loyola's wisdom comes from Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the venerable team chaplain, who headlined the team's 2018 run to the Final Four and received both COVID-19 vaccination shots so she could travel to Indianapolis to see what inspiration she could provide in 2021.

Before taking in this game from the luxury suite — sitting in her wheelchair and decked out in her trademark maroon and gold scarf — Jean delivered a pregame prayer that could've been stripped straight from a John Wooden handbook.

"As we play the Fighting Illini, we ask for special help to overcome this team and get a great win," she said. "We hope to score early and make our opponents nervous. We have a great opportunity to convert rebounds as this team makes about 50% of layups and 30% of its 3 points. Our defense can take care of that."

From her mouth to their ears.

Illinois (24-7) earned top seeding for the first time since its own Final Four run in 2005, but fell behind by 14 in the first half and never got within striking range. The Illini committed 16 turnovers and scored 23 points fewer than their season average. A team that lives for easy buckets in transition got two fast-break points.

Illinois' 7-foot second-team All-American Kofi Cockburn finished with 21 points on 7-for-12 shooting, but worked hard for every shot against the pestering presence of Krutwig and Co.

Loyola's handsy guards, Lucas Williamson (14 points) and Keith Clemons (two steals), kept first-team All-American Ayo Dosunmu from ever finding his comfort zone. He finished with nine points, 11 under his season average. Illini guard Trent Frazier went 1 for 10 for two points.

Loyola held its lead in the 8-to-12-point range through most of the second half, and though Illinois made a few 4-0 flurries, it never made this a one-possession game.

"We tried everything in the bag," Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. "Everything that's made us one of the most efficient offensive teams, today, just for whatever reason, didn't work."

Krutwig is also an All-American — a third-teamer who looked all-world in this one.

Posting up, pivoting, dishing when necessary and causing all kinds of trouble on defense in the paint, the 6-9 senior played bigger. He also had five assists and four steals. Krutwig was with Loyola for the last Final Four trip, and has since become one of only four players in Missouri Valley Conference history to record 1,500 points, 800 boards, and 300 assists.

And there's a chance for more.

It's a turn of events that Sister Jean could see happening. Before the game, she suggested Loyola, the MVC champs who have the nation's best defense (55.7 points per game) and were ranked 17th in the final AP poll, might have gotten a raw deal with a No. 8 seeding that put it up against a 1 so early.

There was only one way to deal with that — by winning. To anyone outside of Champaign — or now holding a freshly obliterated bracket — it's hard to argue this Loyola team isn't the breath of fresh air this tournament-in-a-bubble sorely needed.

Sure, there have been upsets, some drama and little teams doing big things.

But there's nobody quite like Sister Jean to put the whole thing in perspective. The Ramblers and March Madness — what an inspiration!

"It's amazing what happens when you get a group of young men who believe," coach Porter Moser said. "And these guys believed."

___

IN THE CROWD

On other days, for other teams, Jerry Harkness might have been the biggest celebrity spotted in the crowd for Loyola Chicago. The point guard sparked Loyola's national-championship run in 1963 — a win, of course, that Sister Jean watched on an 11-inch TV loaned to her by a friend.

Sweet 16 games kicked off Saturday. Here are some of the highlights (all times Eastern).

6:19 p.m.

Picked to finish dead last in the Pac-12, Oregon State instead might be the last one standing.

Led by unflappable guard Ethan Thompson, whose 20 points included a pair of clinching foul shots with 35 seconds left, the No. 12 seed Beavers and their brilliant defense shut down eighth-seeded Loyola Chicago in a 65-58 victory on Saturday that sent their long-suffering program into the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.

It's Oregon State's first regional final since 1982 — one that was later vacated by the NCAA — and sets up a showdown with second-seeded Houston or No. 10 seed Syracuse on Monday night for a spot in its first Final Four since 1963.

Original story follows:

What to watch on Saturday at the NCAA tournaments in Indiana and Texas:

TOP GAMES

Men: No. 1 seed Baylor (24-2) vs. No. 5 seed Villanova (18-6), South Region semifinal, Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indianapolis. Tipoff: 5:15 p.m. Eastern on CBS.

Villanova is seeking its third men’s national title in the last six years after winning it all in 2016 and 2018. The Wildcats have withstood a season-ending injury to point guard Collin Gillespie to get back to the Sweet 16. Baylor guards Jared Butler, Davion Mitchell and MaCio Teaue are averaging a combined 55 ½ points through the first two rounds.

Women: No. 1 seed UConn (26-1) vs. No. 5 seed Iowa (20-9), River Walk Region semifinal, Alamodome, San Antonio. Tipoff: 1 p.m. Eastern on ABC.

This matchup features two of the most dynamic freshmen in the game and they happen to be good friends. UConn’s Paige Bueckers is just the third freshman to earn first-team honors on the AP All-America women’s team. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, a second-team All-America pick, leads the nation in points per game (26.8), total assists (209) and total 3-pointers (112).

WHAT ELSE TO WATCH FOR

Men: The other men’s games include Loyola Chicago-Oregon State, Arkansas-Oral Roberts and Houston-Syracuse.

Oral Roberts’ Kevin Obanor is averaging 29.5 points in two NCAA Tournament games. That’s the highest average of any player remaining in the tournament.

The Oregon State-Loyola game marks just the second matchup between a No. 8 seed and a No. 12 seed in tournament history. No. 12 seed Missouri beat No. 8 seed UCLA, 82-73, in 2002.

Women: The rest of the women’s schedule includes Baylor-Michigan, North Carolina State-Indiana and Texas A&M-Arizona.

Michigan is making its first Sweet 16 appearance.

Texas A&M has produced plenty of suspense thus far in the tournament by squeaking past No. 15 seed Troy 84-80 and erasing a 12-point deficit to edge Iowa State 84-82 in overtime. The Aggies never led Iowa State in regulation and won on a buzzer-beater from Jordan Nixon, who scored 35 points.

INDIANAPOLIS —

The matchup between Arkansas' Eric Musselman and Baylor's Scott Drew in the South Region final Monday night features coaches who've built on their dads' successes.

Musselman's late father, Bill, coached at Minnesota in the early 1970s and made stops at the highest and lowest levels of pro basketball. Drew's father, Homer, was coach at Valparaiso for 22 years and went to the NCAA Tournament seven times.

Eric Musselman coached pro ball for nearly a quarter-century before he entered the college game nine years ago. Drew, who worked for his father at Valpo, took over then-scandal-plagued Baylor 18 years ago and turned it into a Big 12 power.

The 56-year-old Musselman said there never was a question he would get into coaching.

"My father was my idol, my best friend," he said. "For Halloween, I wanted to be a coach. After school, when I was in grade school, my mom would drop me off at my dad's practices, and I'd stay until 10:00 or 11:00 at night until he'd finish breaking down film or having staff meetings. I just wanted to walk in his footsteps."

The next generation of coaching Musselmans is being developed. Michael Musselman is in his second season as Arkansas' director of recruiting. That followed his one year as a graduate assistant for his dad at Nevada.

"I have a younger son in college," Eric said, "and I know he wants to get into coaching when he graduates from the University of San Diego."

Musselman said a lot of coaches' sons avoid the business because they understand how stressful a life it can be.

"It's a conversation that my mother and I had several, several times when I decided to get into coaching, just how difficult it is," he said. "Coaches get fired, and it affects family. But it's what I loved. But I was warned by my mom, I promise you that."

The coaching bug also bit Scott Drew's brother. Bryce Drew, 46, is in his first year at Grand Canyon after head coaching stints at Vanderbilt and Valpo.

"We have a great mentor," Scott said of their dad. "There's a reason he's in the Hall of Fame. Both of us were blessed to learn from him. As good a coach as he is, he's a better father."

HOOP CITY

Spokane, Washington, already was going to get plenty of attention in this tournament thanks to No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga.

Surprising Elite Eight team Oregon State also has a strong connection to the Lilac City. The 12th-seeded Beavers will face No. 2 seed Houston on Monday in the Midwest Region final, while Gonzaga will play in the West Region final on Tuesday.

Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle reminisced Sunday about growing up in Spokane in the 1980s when the city's basketball scene began taking off. That's when John Stockton starred at Gonzaga before his Hall of Fame career with the Utah Jazz.

Tinkle starred at Ferris High School in the early 1980s before playing at Montana. Tinkle's daughter, Elle, played at Gonzaga.

Tinkle said he shared a birthday text with Stockton recently and had a chat with Gonzaga coach Mark Few when they ran into each other at Victory Field in Indianapolis.

"There's a lot of good athletes that come out of Spokane, not just basketball," Tinkle said. "But it does make me proud that I once had a hand and part of the history there as far as basketball goes."

HOOSIER CONNECTIONS

There might not be any Indiana teams left in the tournament. There still are some Hoosiers.

Two former Indiana coaches, Houston's Kelvin Sampson and Oregon State associate head coach Kerry Rupp, previously worked in Bloomington, and Arkansas' Justin Smith played three seasons with the Hoosiers before transferring.

Rupp spent two seasons on the staff of Mike Davis, who was Bob Knight's successor in 2000. Sampson replaced Davis in 2006. Smith was recruited by Tom Crean, who replaced Sampson in 2008, and played for the recently fired Archie Miller.

And if UCLA wins, assistant coach Michael Lewis would join the list. He was a captain on Knight's final Indiana team in 1999-2000 and graduated as the Hoosiers' career assists leader with 545. Lewis is now second all-time behind Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell (633).

___

AP Sports Writers Tim Booth and Steve Megargee contributed to this report.

Former athletes with local ties call the latest move to pay for endorsement deals a win.

Starting July 1, Kentucky will allow companies to pay student-athletes to use their name, image or likeness. Gov. Andy Beshear signed an executive order enacting the change Thursday.

Former Cincinnati Bengals player Tim McGee said when he was in college at the University of Tennessee in the 1980s, he went hungry some nights.

“We had to eat prior to six o'clock. Once six o’clock was over, that's it. You didn't have any money, and me being from inner city, we didn't have the disposable income to provide extra money to myself and my sister," he said. "Where you knew the university was making all this money. And it just, it was just so, so, so unfair, and everyone knew it.”

Kentucky is the first in the Tri-State to enact the NIL rule. However, 19 states have passed similar legislation to allow compensation for student athletes.

Monday, the U.S. Supreme court issued a ruling that ended the NCAA limits on education-related benefits. In the past, the NCAA said its rules were in place, in part, to keep the sports amateur.

Attorney and sports agent Patrick McCarthey said the benefits will come into play for student-athletes in the form of commercials and business endorsements.

“You're going to see the super star quarterback get a car dealer, you’re going to see the All-American center get a grocery store,” he said.

He says Kentucky schools now have this as a recruiting tool. However, as other states follow suit, bigger universities could lose out to larger cities with more businesses.

For years, the NCAA has been developing a plan to allow students to accept endorsement deals with limits.

“The average fan goes, 'Well, he’s getting a free education," McGee said. "Well, you know, I always wanted someone to break down the number of hours and the hourly rate I’m getting deprived. And where else in America, the United States of America, can you give labor and get no compensation in return?”

Northern Kentucky University assistant athletic director Bryan McEldowney wrote:

"We are excited our Norse student-athletes will have the opportunity to generate revenue under Governor Beshear’s executive order based on their name, image and likeness. Today’s executive order creates a level playing field for our student-athletes and Northern Kentucky University with our peers – both in the Commonwealth of Kentucky as well as those in the Horizon League located in states which have laws in place. We have been actively preparing for NIL reform and will be ready to educate and prepare our student-athletes according to the dynamics of the executive order."

“We've been doing this a long time in terms of preparing our young people for the new world as they leave Kentucky," University of Kentucky Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart told reporters Thursday. "Now, we've just fast tracked it so they're going to get a bigger idea of what it looks like while they're at Kentucky. I think it’s certainly a changing landscape.”

INDIANAPOLIS —

Gonzaga's countdown to perfection has ticked to two.

The Bulldogs are back in the Final Four, two wins from becoming the first undefeated team since the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers.

And, after all those upsets, the March Madness apex in the Hoosier State will be a high-seeded affair.

Gonzaga is a No. 1 seed. So is Baylor. Houston, a 2. UCLA is an 11, but it's also the all-time leader in national championships.

There also will be a trip down Southwest Conference memory lane.

But the Zags will be the team to beat.

Gonzaga (30-0) has been an offensive juggernaut rarely seen in college basketball. Fast moving and free flowing, the ultra-efficient Zags have steamrolled everyone in their way, winning a Division I-record 27 straight games by double digits.

An 85-56 dismantling of Southern California in the Elite Eight stretched their win streak to 34 games over two seasons and put them back in the Final Four for the second time in the past four NCAA Tournaments. Gonzaga came up short in a loss to North Carolina in the 2017 national title game, but has its sights set on finishing it off this time — and grabbing a piece of history.

“Everyone wants us to keep moving forward, but that’s not how we roll,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “This is a heck of an accomplishment. We’re going to take it and savor it for what it is. That doesn’t lessen our desire to win this game, the next game or win two more games.”

11:25 p.m.

For the 30th straight time this season, Gonzaga answered that question with a resounding “No.”

The Bulldogs got on a roll and put on a show, cruising into the Final Four with an 85-66 beatdown of a Southern California team that was nowhere near ready for what it ran into Tuesday night.

Drew Timme had 23 points and five rebounds and, after one dunk, pretended to slick down his handlebar mustache for the few thousand fans in the stands.

“This is a really, really big deal,” coach Mark Few said of the program's return to the Final Four after a four-year hiatus. “And Zags know how to celebrate, OK?”

The top-seeded and top-ranked Bulldogs will be the third team to bring an undefeated record into the Final Four since the bracket expanded to 64 teams in 1985. The last team to go undefeated was Indiana in 1976. On Saturday in the national semifinals, the Zags will face the winner of a later Elite Eight matchup between UCLA and Michigan.

9:30 p.m.

Official Bert Smith collapsed on the floor early in the Elite Eight game between Gonzaga and Southern California and had to be taken off the court on a stretcher.

Smith had just set up on the baseline as the Trojans were moving onto offense when he collapsed and hit his head on the floor.

He stayed down for about five minutes, and then was able to stand up and move to a nearby stretcher. He was alert and sitting up with his arms crossed as he was taken off the court.

In a statement, NCAA spokesman David Worlock said Smith is "alert and stable," and won't be transported to a hospital. Worlock also said Smith has been in contact with his family.

Worlock's statement didn't specifically state the nature of Smith's "medical issue," though CBS Sports rules analyst Gene Steratore said on the TBS broadcast that Smith was feeling "lightheaded," leading to the fall. He said Smith was being treated by trainers in the locker room.

Smith was officiating his second Elite Eight. He was replaced by an alternate, Tony Henderson, who had been at the scorer's table. Additionally, Tony Chiazza — the standby official for the UCLA-Michigan game later Tuesday — would also serve as the standby official for the remainder of the USC-Gonzaga game, Worlock said.

The matchup was the 70th game Smith has worked this season, according to kenpom.com. He has officiated in multiple conferences.

The NCAA plans to implement interim measures that would allow college athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness.

The measures are intended to be in place by July 1, NCAA president Mark Emmert said in a memo sent to member schools and obtained by CNN Wednesday.

The memo comes after the Supreme Court unanimously decided Monday that student-athletes could receive education-related payments. The case could reshape college sports by allowing more money from a billion-dollar industry to go to the athletes.

Several states, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Texas, have signed into law measures that would allow student-athletes to accept NIL earnings starting July 1.

"Although permanent NIL rule changes by July 1 are unlikely due to the legal environment, we are working with divisional governance bodies to develop interim solutions that will fairly allow student-athletes to take advantage of NIL opportunities regardless of the state in which they are enrolled," Emmert wrote in the memo. "Our intent is to have these interim measures in place by July 1. Equally important, we remain committed to working with Congress to chart a path forward, which is a point the Supreme Court expressly stated in its ruling."

The NCAA Division I Council will continue to discuss the NIL issue in a meeting scheduled for Monday, according to a release Wednesday.

College sports raise billions of dollars from ticket sales, television contracts and merchandise, and supporters of the students say the players are being exploited and barred from the opportunity to monetize their talents. In 2016, for example, the NCAA negotiated an eight-year extension of its broadcasting rights to March Madness, worth $1.1 billion annually.

"Nowhere else in America can businesses get away with agreeing not to pay their workers a fair market rate on the theory that their product is defined by not paying their workers a fair market rate," Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in a concurring opinion. "And under ordinary principles of antitrust law, it is not evident why college sports should be any different. The NCAA is not above the law."

The NCAA had argued the spending caps at issue were necessary to preserve a distinction between amateur and pro sports.

The two best teams in men's college basketball all season long will meet in the national championship game Monday night when the Gonzaga Bulldogs take on the Baylor Bears.

Though March's tournament is known for its madness and upsets, this title matchup is no surprise. Preseason rankings from back in November pegged Gonzaga and Baylor as the top two teams in the country, and they've lived up to those lofty expectations all year long.

Gonzaga, led by coach Mark Few, is coming off a stunning last-second overtime win over UCLA that pushed its record to a sterling 36-0. With a win over Baylor, they would become the first team to finish a season undefeated since Indiana went 32-0 during the 1975-76 season.

Baylor, meanwhile, is fresh off a dominating win over Houston in the Final Four and holds a 32-2 record. Under coach Scott Drew, Baylor has cruised through its tournament opponents, beating every team by at least nine points.

Both teams boast star players likely to be playing in the pros next season.

Check below for updates:

10:05 p.m.

There are about 8,000 fans inside Lucas Oil Stadium and the overwhelming majority of them are rooting for Baylor.

The Bears are certainly giving them plenty of reasons to cheer.

Even though they've cooled off a bit from the field, they are still matching Gonzaga bucket-for-bucket as the national title game approaches halftime. One big advantage for the Bears is their depth: They've already gotten eight points from backup guard Adam Flagler while the Bulldogs have yet to get anything from their bench.

Baylor leads 38-26 with 3 1/2 minutes left before the break.

9:55 p.m.

Baylor continues to dominate overall No. 1 seed Gonzaga in the national championship game.

The Bears hit their first 5 3-pointers, have caused the Bulldogs all kinds of problems on defense and roared to a 29-10 lead — the biggest deficit faced by Gonzaga during its bid for a perfect season. The Bulldogs have since scored a couple of buckets, but they still trail 31-14 at the under-8 media timeout.

Fouls are suddenly a big problem for Gonzaga, too. Drew Timme picked up his third foul on a charging call, and Jalen Suggs already has spent time on the bench with two fouls. Suggs has twice fouled out of games this season.

9:40 p.m.

Baylor has raced to an 11-1 lead at the first media timeout of the national championship game, continuing the red-hot shooting that carried the Bears to a blowout victory over Houston in the semifinals.

Davion Mitchell already has seven points and Mark Vital has three offensive boards for the Bears.

Gonzaga has missed its first three shots, committed two turnovers and got its only point after Andrew Nembhard made the second of his two free throws. The Bears have turned both of those turnovers into points.

9:05 p.m.

There are no surprises in the starting lineups for Baylor and Gonzaga in the national championship game.

The Bears will go with their dynamic backcourt of All-American guard Jared Butler, defensive player of the year Davion Mitchell and sharp-shooter MaCio Teague. Mark Vital and Flo Thamba will patrol the paint for them.

The Bulldogs will counter with Jalen Suggs, whose buzzer-beating 3-pointer in overtime sent them past UCLA in the semifinals, alongside fellow guards Andrew Nembhard and Joel Ayayi. All-American forward Corey Kispert and Drew Timme, who also had a monster game against the Bruins, will round out the starters.

The game officials will be Bo Boroski, Keith Kimble and Randy McCall.

The Associated Press and CNN contributed to this report.