WICHITA, Kan. _ It wasn't necessarily easy, but Kansas maintained the unbeaten status of No. 1 seeds against 16s on Thursday at Intrust Bank Arena.
The Jayhawks, the top-seeded team in the 2018 NCAA Tournament's Midwest Regional, overcame a 10-point first-half deficit to upend pesky 16-seed Penn, 76-60, in a 14,619-seat building that was packed to the brim with KU fans.
The hard-earned victory _ KU led 33-26 at halftime thanks to 19 points from Devonte Graham, who finished with 29 points, six assists and six rebounds _ gave No. 1 seeds a 133-0 all-time record against 16s after the first of four such matchups this postseason.
Graham hit nine of 24 shots (a career high for shot attempts) and was 3 of 8 from 3-point range and 8-of-9 from the line. Lagerald Vick added 14 points and Svi Mykhailiuk and Malik Newman 10 apiece for the Jayhawks (28-7), who hit seven of 17 3-pointers to Penn's 11 of 28.
Penn was led by Caleb Wood and AJ Brodeur, who had 14 points apiece. Darnell Foreman and Antonio Woods had 10 apiece. The Quakers hit just five of 14 free throws to KU's 15 of 17.
Mitch Lightfoot contributed 11 rebounds and nine points for KU.
Things were not looking good for KU early as Penn rolled to a 21-11 lead at the 7:59 mark. Then Graham steadied the ship by scoring six straight points and 12 total during a 19-2 run that gave the Jayhawks a 30-23 lead with 41 seconds remaining until halftime. He hit three free throws to close out the first half, totaling 15 points in KU's 21-5 surge before intermission.
Graham finished the first half with 19 points, five rebounds and three assists in 20 minutes as KU led by seven, 33-26, at the break.
He hit seven of 13 shots and was 2-of-5 from 3-point range in the half. Vick was next in line with five points. KU hit four of 11 3s in the half and 41.9 percent of its shots overall.
Ryan Betley scored eight points, Wood six and Brodeur five for Penn in the half. The Quakers (24-9) hit five of 12 3s and 35.7 percent overall.
KU big man Udoka Azubuike entered with KU trailing 19-11 and played three minutes in the first half as the Jayhawks began their comeback.
KU's 21-5 half-ending run started with a tip-in and two buckets from Graham. Svi Mykhailiuk hit a 3 and Newman and Silvio De Sousa each made baskets. The run ended with a 3 by Graham and three free throws from Graham. Penn led early, 14-7, before surging to 21-11.
KU led by 13 points, 50-37, with 14:37 left, but an 8-0 Penn run made it 50-45 at the 12:33 mark. At that point, the 1-16 matchup was still anybody's game. The Quakers cut it to 52-48 at 11:17. KU then went on a 7-0 run (five points from Vick, two Newman) and led 59-48 at 8:31.
It was 60-52 with seven minutes left when Graham outscored Penn 5-2 to make it 65-54 at 6:22. Vick dunked off a pass from Mykhailiuk and it was 67-54 at 5:31.
KU improved to 16-0 all-time against Ivy League schools and 4-0 against the Quakers (24-9).
KU, which is 5-0 all-time in tourney games contested in Wichita, next will face the winner of the North Carolina State-Seton Hall game on Saturday at Intrust Bank Arena.
