No. 1 Kansas makes strong case

Perry Ellis scored 20 points, and top-ranked Kansas rolled over No. 23 Texas 86-56 on Monday night in Austin, Texas, an emphatic exclamation point that clinched the outright Big 12 championship for the Jayhawks.

Kansas had already earned at least a share of a 12th straight crown and settled the question of whether they would get to claim it as their own in the opening minutes with a barrage of 3-pointers.

The Jayhawks (26-4, 14-3) made 11 3-pointers, led by 24 points by halftime and sent Texas’ sellout crowd headed to the exits early.

Javan Felix scored 13 points for Texas (19-11, 10-7), which has never beaten a No. 1-ranked opponent in nine tries.

Earlier in the day, Kansas reclaimed the No. 1 spot after three weeks of Villanova topping the Associated Press poll.

The Jayhawks also were No. 1 for two weeks in January. On Monday, they were a runaway choice, receiving 63 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel. Michigan State (24-5) drew the other two first-place votes.

N. Carolina 75, Syracuse

70: Brice Johnson had 14 points and 10 rebounds to help the No. 8 Tar Heels beat the Orange in their home finale.

Joel Berry II added 13 points and two late free throws for North Carolina (24-6, 13-4 ACC), which led by as many as 13 points but had trouble putting the game away.

Michael Gbinije scored 17 points to lead the Orange (19-11, 9-8).

The Tar Heels were coming off a weekend loss at Virginia as part of a 4-4 stretch against a tough February schedule. But they still entered the week tied with No. 7 Miami atop the league and can claim at least a share of the regular-season crown by beating rival Duke on Saturday. Iowa St. 58, Oklahoma St. 50: Abdel Nader scored 19 points, Georges Niang added 17 with 10 rebounds and the No. 21 Cyclones (21-9, 10-7 Big 12) held off the Cowboys (12-18, 3-14).

Iowa State broke it open with an 11-0 run to start the second half. The Cowboys fell to the Cyclones for the seventh straight time.