SAN ANTONIO — If this Southwest Regional looked any more top-heavy, the Alamodome would implode like Richmond did here Friday night.
Top-seeded Kansas, grouped with three seeds with more digits than chances, devoured the first one like a midmajor taco in humiliating 12th-seeded Richmond 77-57 in the Sweet 16.
This had some hints of a trap game. Richmond is America’s favorite giant killer, conquering the likes of Indiana, Georgia Tech and Syracuse over the years, and Kansas one year removed from its washout to Northern Iowa.
But Richmond’s chance of adding a Jayhawk pelt to its wall ended in an array of Kansas 3-pointers and Richmond airballs. Kansas extended its defense all over the court, holding the Spiders (29-8) to a season-low 33.8 percent shooting, including a frosty 4-of-26 from 3-point range.
“They did everything well,” Richmond coach Chris Mooney said. “They pressured the ball. They defended ball screens. They pushed us out on the court further than we wanted. We didn’t play as well in the beginning of the game as we’d like, but that’s a case of one team gaining confidence and another pressing.
“Unfortunately, that was us.”
Richmond took tips from so many past Kansas victims and sagged in on the Morris twins, Marcus and Markieff, and tried closing out on the Jayhawk snipers. It failed miserably. The twins combined for a modest 18 points, but Kansas (35-2) hit 9-of-19 3-pointers, with Brady Morningstar, the Big 12’s top 3-point shooter, hitting 4-of-7 for a team-high 18 points.
“Marcus is still going to be the guy most teams key on to stop,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “And he can pass and, of course, Markieff can pass.”
The suspense lasted all of about 15 minutes. Morningstar’s two treys highlighted a 15-2 run for a 19-7 lead while the Spiders went 0-for-6 and committed four turnovers, including Cedrick Lindsay curiously throwing a pass into the Kansas bench.
Richmond made only one basket over more than nine minutes as Kansas led 31-9.
“The guys followed the scouting report great,” Self said. “Our ball-screen defense was good. They usually can score behind their ball screens or behind their dribble handoffs, and that wasn’t the case.”
Whether it’s the lingering effect of the Northern Iowa debacle, these Jayhawks are rolling through this field with a chip on their shoulders. Some players talked Thursday about getting into the Spiders’ heads, and they started in the narrow tunnel both teams share going out to the court.
As the Spiders gathered and got pumped up, Jayhawks players walked by and one said, “You’re wasting your (expletive) time,” and Richmond’s Josh Duinker and Darrius Garrett were pushed. It didn’t go any further, and both teams downplayed it — “That’s just how sports are sometimes,” Morningstar said — no one ruled out that it fueled Kansas’ hot start.
After Morningstar and Kevin Smith exchanged words during a dead ball, Morningstar shot over him for a 3, made an editorial comment to his face and drew a technical foul.
“I’m not good enough to run my mouth after I make a shot,” Morningstar said. “A mistake on my part. I apologize for that. Sorry, Coach.”
“Too late,” Self said with a smile.
It’s easy for Kansas to laugh. It has won three NCAA Tournament games by an average of 17.7 points a game and plays another double-digit seed Sunday for a Final Four berth.
John Henderson: 303-954-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com
