Fourth-seeded Kansas took control with eight minutes remaining in the first half and cruised past No. 13 seed Northeastern 87-53 in a first-round game of the NCAA Tournament in front of an announced crowd of 16,576 at Vivint Smart Home Arena on Thursday.
Junior forward Dedric Lawson scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and the Jayhawks won their 13th-straight first-round game.
Kansas (26-9) will play No. 5 seed Auburn, which eked out a 78-77 win over New Mexico State, in a second-round game on Saturday in the Midwest Region in Salt Lake City.
Northeastern scored the first five points of the second half to trim the deficit to seven, but after a timeout KU’s Quentin Grimes and Lawson hit consecutive 3-pointers and Lawson followed with a layup to push the Jayhawks’ advantage to 15 and the rout was on.