There will be no quarter final without the top seed this year. 1 KS used a strong second run to erase a first-half deficit and eventually put No. 10 Miami 76-50 in the Midwest regional final.

The Jayhawks (32-6) are heading into their fourth final under coach Bill Self, and their first since 2018. The contender in 2022 is the same as it was then, with Kansas facing Villanova at 6:09 p.m. Saturday at New. Orleans.

KS struggled in the Elite Eight under Self, going 3-5 before Sunday’s win. And with Kameron McGusty scoring 14 points in the first half, it looked like another tough regional outing was waiting for the Jayhawks. Kansas led 27-26 before Miami (26-10) finished the game by leading 9-2 to get 35-29 in the first half.

Kansas didn’t waste much time erasing that edge in the second half. Christian Brown’s 3-pointer – first game for Kansas – with 15:27 tie-breaker remaining 40, and after about five minutes, Ochai Agbaji’s triple-pointer pushed the lead into double-digits at 12. Miami never cut it back to number one again.

Five Jayhawks scored at least nine points led by Agbaji who came out of his last drop with 18 points in 8 of 12 shots, added five rebounds, four assists and four steals.

McGusty finished with 18 points to lead the Hurricanes.