Yale notches first upset of 2016 NCAA Tournament, shocking Baylor 79-75

Yale upsets Baylor in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Men&#039;s Basketball Tournament

(Image credit: Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

published 17 March 2016

The madness has officially begun.

The No. 12 Yale Bulldogs notched the first upset of the 2016 March Madness tournament Thursday, besting the No. 5 Baylor Bears 79-75 in the NCAA West first round. Baylor's offense went cold in the second half, allowing Yale to break the game open with a 10-1 run, but the Bears stormed back thanks to energetic play from senior forward Taurean Prince, whose empathic put-back dunk ignited the crowd. The run fell short, however, and a career offensive night from Yale sophomore Makai Mason — who scored 31 points on 9-18 shooting — lifted the Bulldogs to a 79-75 victory.

The win was Yale's first NCAA tournament win in program history. They'll next face Duke, who outlasted the University of North Carolina-Wilmington earlier Thursday, in the second round on March 19. Baylor was also eliminated in a first-round upset last year, when the then-No. 3 Bears fell to the No. 14 Georgia State Panthers 57-56 on a last-second three-pointer by guard R.J. Hunter.