The Kansas Jayhawks were aware of Friday’s previous upsets when they took the court for one of the final round-of-64 games. They were not about to become the third No. 2 seed to lose in a span of hours.
District native Thomas Robinson scored 16 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as Kansas beat 15th-seeded Detroit, 65-50, in a Midwest Region game in Omaha.
Elijah Johnson added 15 points as the Jayhawks advanced to face 10th-seeded Purdue in a round-of-32 game on Sunday.
Before this year, a No. 2 seed had lost to a No. 15 seed just four times in tournament history. Norfolk State and Lehigh pulled off the feat Friday, but after a slow start Kansas made sure it would not add to the history-making night.
“It definitely wakes you up — I think it’s a blessing with us having the last game and watching all those games and all those teams going down earlier tonight,” Robinson told CBS during a postgame interview. “We didn’t want to be one of those teams.”
Despite missing much of the second half with cramps, Tyshawn Taylor scored 10 points for Kansas (28-6).
Detroit led 21-19 before Robinson’s dunk ignited a 13-2 run that gave the Jayhawks the lead for good. Kansas then started the second half with a 16-4 run to take control.
The Titans (22-14) last qualified for the NCAA tournament in 1999, when they upset UCLA. Doug Anderson led Detroit with 15 points.
Box Score: Kansas 65, Detroit 60
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