Defending champ Baylor opens with rout of Norfolk St.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Matthew Mayer just knew it was a perfect pass he turned into a half-ending breakaway dunk for defending national champion Baylor. He wasn’t really sure what happened before he got the ball.

“I thought it was like a rebound or something, and then all of sudden the ball was just right in front of me,” Mayer said. “I was like, ‘Wow, that was great.’”

Mayer scored a career-high 22 points, including that punctuating half-ending dunk with a salute, as the top-seeded Bears opened the NCAA Tournament with an 85-49 victory over Norfolk State on Thursday.

Jeremy Sochan did grab a rebound to start the play, and got credited with an assist on Mayer’s dunk.

“I didn’t really pass it to him, but I’ll take it. I’ll take it,” the pink-haired Sochan said with a chuckle.

After Joe Bryant tumbled to the floor when missing a layup, Sochan took a couple of dribbles while still in the lane. Norfolk State’s Tyrese Jenkins then reached from behind and swatted the ball out of his hands — into the air past midcourt, where it bounced once to a breaking Mayer, who got past Terrance Jones for the dunk.

“First, I should have dumped it off to my big man, who was wide open. I fell, so I couldn’t really see what happened,” said Bryant, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference player of the year who had 15 points.

Freshman standout Sochan had 15 points and seven rebounds for the Bears (27-6), who had to travel less than 100 miles from their Waco campus for the East Region opener and first NCAA tourney game at Dickies Arena. They will play eighth-seeded North Carolina, a 95-63 winner over Marquette, in the second round Saturday.

Mayer, who finished 8-of-12 shooting with four 3s, directed a salute with his left hand toward the Spartans’