OMAHA, Neb. — Kansas made Blowout City live up to its name one last time.

Capping off two days of mismatches in Omaha, the top-seeded Jayhawks pulled away from UNLV in the second half and romped to a 75-56 victory yesterday at the NCAA's Midwest Regional, another emphatic team effort by a deep, talented group out to win the proud program's first national title in 20 years.

Mario Chalmers led the way with 17 points, but he had plenty of help. Russell Robinson scored 13, Brandon Rush 12, Sherron Collins 10, Darrell Arthur 9 and Darnell Jackson 8.

Good luck trying to find the right player to stop.

"We have a nice blend of power, inside scoring, guys who can run, quickness on the perimeter to break you down, guys who can shoot off the kick-out," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "I do think we have a really good team. I won't say it's the best team we've had. I'll wait and see how it plays out."

All the drama was in Tampa and elsewhere — everything in Nebraska went pretty much according to plan. Kansas State was the only lower-seeded team to win in six games, and there was no chance for a buzzer-beater unless the NCAA changed the rules to allow a 14-point shot.

The closest margin in Omaha was 13, and the Jayhawks (33-3) sure did their part to make sure everyone could get a head start on their partying in the Old Market. They blew out No. 16 Portland State, 85-61, in the opener, then handled the eighth-seeded Runnin' Rebels (27-8) with nearly as much ease to reach the round of 16 for the second year in a row.

The first half was close — Kansas led by only five midway through — but that was just putting off the inevitable. The Jayhawks are off the round of 16 for the sixth time in eight years.

"We hung in there a while against a very good Kansas club," UNLV coach Lon Kruger said. "They're not just a talented group. They play well, they play unselfishly, they play hard. They're very deserving of that 1 seed."

The Jayhawks advanced to the regional semifinals at Detroit's Ford Field, where they will face either 12th-seeded Villanova or No. 13 Siena, who meet today.

WISCONSIN 72, KANSAS STATE 55

Wisconsin mixed in some finesse with its usual toughness, and now the Badgers are headed to the Midwest Regional semifinals.

Trevon Hughes matched his career high with 25 points, and third-seeded Wisconsin shut down Kansas State freshman star Michael Beasley in the second half of a its second-round victory. Beasley scored 23 points in what might be his last college game, but he had only six after halftime.

"I like playing under the radar," said Hughes. "We know what we've got in the locker room. It put a chip on our shoulder and made us go out and play even harder."

The third-seeded Badgers (31-4) will play the winner of today's Georgetown-Davidson game in the round of 16 next week in Detroit. Wisconsin heads to the Motor City with 12 straight wins.

No. 11 seed Kansas State, whose point total was a season low, went 0-for-13 on 3s. It was the first time in 349 games that K-State didn't make a 3-pointer.

"We knew going into the game we would have to make some jump shots to win this game," K-State coach Frank Martin said. "I felt 11 of the 13 3s we took were the ones that we were looking to shoot, and they just didn't go in for us today. When that happens, chances of us succeeding become a little more difficult."