COL BKB: Kansas 85, Portland State 61

OMAHA, March 20 (UPI) -- Brandon Rush's 18 points and six rebounds Thursday led Kansas in an 85-61 rout of Portland State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament's Midwest Regional.

The contest, played in Omaha, was never close because the top-seeded and fourth-ranked Jayhawks led 14-3 in the game's first 5 1/2 minutes on the way to an insurmountable 49-26 halftime advantage.

In the second half, the closest Portland State came was 61-39 on a three-pointer by Jeremiah Dominguez with 10:55 remaining.

Darrell Arthur scored 17 points with seven rebounds for Kansas. Mario Chalmers scored 16 and Darnell Jackson added 10 points and four rebounds for the Jayhawks, who are playing in the tournament for the 19th consecutive season.

Dominguez led Portland State with 13 points. Alex Tiefenthaler scored 10 and was the only other player to reach double figures for the Vikings (23-10).

They qualified for their first NCAA Tournament appearance by capturing the Big Sky Conference tournament title. They also won the conference regular-season championship.