JONATHAN TCHAMWA TCHATCHOUA

Matthew Mayer scored a career-high 22 points and defending national champion Baylor opened the NCAA Tournament with an 85-49 victory over Norfolk State.

The top six and seven of the top 10 teams in the AP Top 25 lost on the same day last week, both records.

No. 19 Texas Tech has now beaten consecutive top-10 opponents in the Big 12.

Baylor is once again the unanimous No. 1 in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll, and fifth-ranked Southern California climbed to its highest ranking in nearly five decades.

James Akinjo matched his career high with 27 points, Adam Flagler scored 22 and top-ranked Baylor stretched its national-best winning streak to 20 games with an 84-74 win over Oklahoma.

James Akinjo scored 16 points, LJ Cryer had 10 of his 13 in the second half, and top-ranked Baylor beat No. 8 Iowa State 77-72 for the Cyclones’ first loss.

Baylor remained No. 1 for the third straight week in The Associated Press men's college basketball poll, receiving all 61 first-place votes from a national media panel.

Defending national champion Baylor has maintained its top spot in The Associated Press men's college basketball poll, though not without ceding a No. 1 vote to Arizona, while the six remaining unbeatens continued their rise.

Scott Drew uttered the far-fetched idea of Baylor being national champion when he was introduced as coach nearly 18 years ago.

The fresh-as-can-be Baylor Bears obliterated wobbly-legged Gonzaga’s march to perfection in an 86-70 runaway in the national title game.

Jared Butler scored 17 points to lead five Baylor players in double figures, and the Bears roared to a 78-59 victory over Houston in the Final Four.

Two days after the Bears clinched their first Big 12 title with an overtime win at No. 17 Oklahoma State on Thursday night, ending the Cowboys' five-game winning streak. “You want to be content with winning the Big 12, but at the same time you don’t want to lose a game,” Butler said. AdFreshman standout and Big 12 leading scorer Cade Cunningham had 20 of his 24 points after halftime for Oklahoma State (17-7, 10-7), whose winning streak was the longest active in the Big 12. I didn’t see anything unusual other than stepping on a guy’s foot,” Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton said.

And after an uncharacteristic first half, Drew understood why his players might have been a little unnerved. “It was a frustrating night," Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. Baylor forward Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua started the decisive stretch by making two free throws with 12:51 left. After Illinois made a 3-pointer, Baylor scored five more points and then took control with another run, this time 9-0. ... MaCio Teague added 11 points and Tchamwa Tchatchoua had nine points and nine rebounds.