No. 1 Seed Baylor Blows Out No. 16 Seed Norfolk State in March Madness 1st Round

No. 1 Baylor easily advanced to the second round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament with an 85-49 win over No. 16 Norfolk State. 

Matthew Mayer led the way for the Bears with 22 points in Thursday's first-round game at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. The top seed in the East region scored the first five points and never trailed in the wire-to-wire win.

Norfolk State played the first half without second-leading scorer Jalen Hawkins, who was suspended for a team violation (h/t Jami Frankenberry of the Virginia Pilot). Joe Bryant Jr. did his part to pick up the slack with 15 points, but it wasn't enough to compete with the defending national champions.

---

Notable Performances

James Akinjo, G, BAY: 10 points, 10 assists

Matthew Mayer, G, BAY: 22 points, 6 rebounds

Flo Thamba, F, BAY: 14 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals

Joe Bryant Jr., G, NSU: 15 points, 5 rebounds

Terrance Jones, G, NSU: 9 points, 2 steals

---

Matthew Mayer Provides Scoring Depth for Baylor

Baylor has been somewhat overlooked among top contenders this postseason despite the seed line after winning it all last year. There are concerns about the team's depth after losing key players like LJ Cryer and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua to injuries.

It made the production from Matthew Mayer a pleasant surprise in Round 1 after some inconsistency this season.

The senior helped the squad pull away with some early points. 

He then provided the biggest highlight of the first half with a monstrous slam dunk to beat the buzzer:

Mayer led all scorers with 10 in the first half as Baylor took a 43-27 lead. His 12 in the second half helped put the game away.

The forward also had big games during last year's tournament run, including 17 points in a second-round win over Wisconsin and 12 in the Final Four against Houston. If he can continue provide this type of offense, the Bears could again be dangerous.

Jeremy Sochan also had a big showing off the bench, reaching double figures for his third straight game. 

James Akinjo is usually the go-to option for Baylor, but he was able to share the ball more often in this one as he tallied 10 assists to go with his 10 points.

It allowed five Bears players to finish in double figures, the type of balance needed to beat good teams in this tournament. 

---

Baylor Defense Squeezes Norfolk State

There were a few bright moments for Norfolk State in the loss, including this big dunk from Terrance Jones:

The highlights were still few and far between as the Spartans struggled to find quality looks against the Bears defense.

Norfolk State averaged 75.1 points per game this season, dominating the MEAC on the way to a 12-2 conference record. It was much tougher against a Big 12 opponent as the team was held to 31.6 percent shooting from the field and 22.7 percent from three-point range.

The 15 turnovers with only seven assists also told a significant story as Norfolk State couldn't run its offense. 

Defense has been a key for Baylor throughout Scott Drew's tenure with the team and the squad entered the day ranked 14th in defensive efficiency this season, per KenPom. Keeping this type of intensity in the later rounds should help the Bears make another deep run.