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Kansas cruises past Detroit

Mar 17, 2012 - 5:44 AM Omaha, NE (Sports Network) - Thomas Robinson had 16 points and 13 rebounds and Kansas avoided becoming the third No. 2 seed to fall Friday after rolling to a 65-50 victory over Detroit in the NCAA Tournament.

Earlier, Norfolk State upset Missouri in Omaha and Lehigh knocked off Duke in Greensboro -- a pair of shockers that marked the first time two second-seeded teams had lost to 15 seeds in the same year of the NCAAs.

Kansas, seeded second behind North Carolina in the Midwest Region, avoided the same fate after using a 34-7 run spanning halftime to take a 25-point lead.

Robinson said the earlier losses by Missouri and Duke made the Jayhawks aware that "anybody is capable of beating anybody right now."

"We didn't talk about it at all or make it a big deal," Robinson said, "but it did wake us up a little more and gave us energy for the game."

The Jayhawks (28-6) moved on to face 10th-seeded Purdue, which topped Saint Mary's earlier Friday. Elijah Johnson scored 15 for Kansas and Tyshawn Taylor had 10.

Doug Anderson scored 15 points to lead Detroit (22-14) and Eli Holman had 10.

"I didn't want to go home this way but it is what it is," said Holman, a senior. "I went out against one of the top teams in the country ... so it's hitting me pretty hard right now."

The Titans had won five straight coming in after beating Valparaiso in the Horizon League final for their sixth NCAA appearance and first since 1999.

They had enough in the tank to run with Kansas, a potential No. 1 seed before the bracket was announced Sunday, through much of the first half.

The Jayhawks, though, eventually kicked into high gear in the opener of their NCAA-best 23rd straight tournament appearance.

Down 21-19 after Anderson's dunk with nine minutes left in the first half, the Jayhawks reeled off eight straight points to start their massive surge.

Robinson's dunk made it 27-21 and the lead reached 34-23 at halftime.

It ballooned to 53-28 on Conner Teahan's three-pointer with 13:09 remaining in the game, which capped the 34-7 run and gave Kansas its largest lead.

The Jayhawks, ranked No. 6, are seeking some level of validation after winning their eighth straight regular season Big 12 title but losing to Baylor in the semifinals of the conference tournament to prevent what would have been a lock for a top seed.

Big Ten champion Michigan State received the No. 1 seed that probably would have been Kansas' otherwise.

Game Notes

Kansas is making its 41st NCAA Tournament appearance. The Jayhawks won titles in 1952, 1988 and 2008...Detroit shot just 31.7 percent while Kansas shot 46 percent.