OMAHA, Neb. — Kansas made sure Blowout City lived 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 tonight 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.

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 Runnin' Rebels barely had enough personnel to finish the game. With only 10 players in uniform to begin with, they had one starter, Joe Darger, foul out with more than 9½ minutes remaining; another, Rene Rougeau, quickly followed him to the bench with his fifth.

UNLV's offense basically consisted of 6-footer Wink Adams driving the lane against the taller Jayhawks, looking to draw a foul and hit the free throws. He scored 25 points — hitting 15 of 17 at the line — but Curtis Terry was the only other teammate in double figures with 12.

The Rebels shot under 27 percent (12 of 45) and were outrebounded 36-26. Kansas shot 58 percent on a 29-of-50 performance that included plenty of dunks and layups.

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 Sunday in Tampa after pulling off two of the four upsets on the Sunshine State's opening day.

By contrast, the average margin in Omaha was 17 points.

Kansas reached the regional final last year before losing to UCLA, one win short of the Final Four. The Jayhawks haven't won a national championship since 1988, but they've got a reminder right on the bench. Danny Manning, who led the last title team almost single-handedly, is now an assistant coach to Bill Self.

UNLV came up short in its bid to reach the round of 16 for the second year in a row.

The Jayhawks stretched their lead to double figures for the first time on Robinson's lay-in just over 3 minutes into the second half. UNLV got the margin back to five, but Robinson put it away with a 3-pointer from the corner with 10 minutes remaining.

Kansas got off to a slow start, missing its first three shots and turning it over twice.

But Jackson broke the Jayhawks drought with a jumper about 3½ minutes into the game, the first of nine straight points by the Jayhawks.

Kansas got on the same sort of run-and-gun roll it had in the blowout of Portland State. Chalmers stripped the ball away and went in for a slam. Arthur came up with a steal of his own and turned it into another jam, the basket shaking with so much force that it looked as though the shot clock might come tumbling down. Sasha Kaun finished off the dunkfest by getting free under the basket.

But the Jayhawks could never push the margin higher than six points in the opening half. UNLV tried to make up for its size disadvantage by scrapping for loose balls, annoying Kansas with quick hands and darting into the lane to draw fouls.

Despite shooting 8-for-27 in the first 20 minutes, the Runnin' Rebels were still in the game. They went nearly six minutes without a field goal in one stretch, missing seven straight shots, but made 10 of 12 free throws to trail 34-29 at the break.