Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO ó Ramping up for perhaps the biggest game in school history, 12th-seeded Richmond huddled in the tunnel. Thatís when Kansas players came trotting past and the trouble started.
Shoves were traded. Words were exchanged and security appeared. It ended quickly without a fight and the Jayhawks went on their way.
The game itself wasnít much different.
Brady Morningstar scored 18 points and Kansas, playing like the dominant No. 1 seed in a historic NCAA regional full of underdogs, knocked off Richmond 77-57 on Friday night to move one victory from returning the Final Four for the first time since its 2008 championship.
ěWe were trying to get past, and they were shoving us,î Kansas guard Mario Little said of the pregame encounter. ěBut we tried to let our play do the talking, and I think we did a good job in the first half.î
There was no doubt about that.
The Spiders passed up open shots, bounced balls into the Kansas bench and found themselves down 31-9 with more than six minutes still left before halftime.
The Spiders looked jittery in the what was only the schoolís second round-of-16 appearance. The Jayhawks, meanwhile, were calm and confident in reaching a fourth regional final under coach Bill Self.
Justin Harper led Richmond with 22 points.
ěWe werenít able to slow them down in any way,î Richmond coach Chris Mooney said.
Thomas Robinson had 12 points and 14 rebounds, and Marcus Morris scored 13 for Kansas. The Jayhawks have yet to be tested so far this tournament, winning by an average of nearly 18 points.
The Southwest regional is the first in NCAA history with three double-digit seeded teams. Kansas awaited the winner of 11th-seeded Virginia Commonwealth and 10th-seeded Florida State.
The Jayhawks can make it to Houston next week without having beaten a seed higher than ninth-seeded Illinois.
If that happens, Kansas will join Michigan State in 2001 and North Carolina in 1991 as the only schools to get that far without having to beat a seed higher than nine.