Not after the underdog Matadors provided some pre-game bulletin board material, which incited KU’s inside players.

“(Brian) Heinle said he felt sorry for whoever had to play them in the first round. That was motivation right there. He gave us ammunition for our gun,” KU forward Drew Gooden said after scoring 20 points in the Jayhawks’ 99-75 victory at University of Dayton Arena.

Fellow soph forward Nick Collison contributed 23 points with 11 rebounds, while senior swingman Kenny Gregory had 18 points and 11 boards as the Jayhawks outplayed senior pivot Heinle, who had 13 points on 4-of-17 shooting.

Jeff Boschee also contributed 19 points off four threes, while Kirk Hinrich had nine assists in 23 foul-plagued minutes. Brett Ballard contributed two threes, eight points and five assists in 18 super-sub minutes for KU, which advances to Sunday’s second round.

Earl Richardson/Journal-World Photo

KU will meet Syracuse, a 79-69 winner over Hawaii. Tipoff will be 11:10 a.m., Lawrence time, Sunday.

“I’m happy we won. I’m really excited we advanced. All the top teams, all the high seeds have been losing,” Hinrich said.

Indeed, two of the other four No. 4 seeds Oklahoma and Indiana had fallen prior to KU’s game, with the other No. 4, UCLA, struggling in a win over Hofstra.

What’s more, Big 12 members Iowa State, Texas, Oklahoma and Okie State all lost first-round games.

“We didn’t win the conference, so we don’t really care. We want ours, now,” said Gooden, whose three-pointer opened a first-half-ending 17-0 run that gave the Jayhawks a 52-37 lead at intermission.

Earl Richardson/Journal-World Photo

The Jayhawks kept running and gunning the second half and scored 99 points, the same total KU had in a win over UCLA earlier this season a team Cal State Northridge defeated.

“It looked more like an ACC game, going up and down, high scoring,” Gooden said. “Big 12 is always halfcourt. We can run with the best of them.”

The Jayhawks can score with the best when they get the big men involved. Collison opened the game with six straight points for KU, which improved to 25-6. Northridge fell to 22-10.

	Shop for your KU Madness Gear here!

“The big guys were making themselves available,” said Hinrich, who picked up two quick fouls, then a third off a technical foul with 8:42 left in the first.

Earl Richardson/Journal-World Photo

He and Northridge’s Marco McCain went down chasing the basketball near halfcourt. McCain yelled something at Hinrich. Hinrich yelled back, said a cuss word, and Hinrich was tooted for the ‘T.’

“I was very concerned,” KU coach Roy Williams said. “It wasn’t very bright, to say the least, especially when you already have two fouls.

“They were scrambling for a loose ball. He (Hinrich) said, ‘Get off me’ and cursed the kid and the referee called the foul for that. Kirk made the mistake and he had to pay for it. The team had to pay for it.

“I was very surprised it was called a technical,” the coach added. “A lot of things are said during a game that don’t warrant that kind of punishment.”

Funny thing is, Hinrich knows better.

What’s that about the second person in an altercation always getting caught?

“My dad always told me that since kindergarten,” Hinrich said. “It was stupid of me.”

Yet Ballard was able to step in and “do some really nice things,” Williams said of the junior guard who subbed for Hinrich.

Indeed, Ballard not only hit a three the first half, but also had four assists, including a lob to Gregory for a slam and nice feed to Gooden for a layup on the fast break which KU ran to perfection.

“They love the fast tempo. We love the fast tempo,” Williams said.

The Jayhawks also love sharing the ball despite reports there was some team dissension in KU’s last game, a Big 12 semifinal loss to Oklahoma.

“It’s something I jumped on them over one little incident,” Williams said of Gooden and Chenowith (two points, eight boards in 17 minutes) reportedly barking at each other on one play in that game.

“It was blown way out of proportion, (yet) tonight they were very aware of sharing the basketball, hitting the open man without even considering anything else. We had 37 field goals and 26 assists. That’s the way Kansas basketball should be played.”

Gooden and Gregory had five points apiece in that half-ending 17-0 surge.

Northridge didn’t go down without a second-half fight.

Thanks to the work of Jeff Parris (18 points), John Burrell (16), McCain (13) and Carl Holmes (12), the Matadors lagged just 77-69 with 7:59 left.

KU rolled, 9-0, to put it away. First Gooden scored inside. Then Gregory hit a driving one-handed layin, Hinrich cashed a three and Ballard converted two free throws.

KU closed the second half on a 22-6 surge, as strong a finish as the end of the first session.

“We want to enjoy the heck out of this a few hours,” Williams said. “One thing I wrote on the board before the game was I wanted the kids to have fun. It’s important they think in those terms. All the joy you can have this time of year.

“The best way to have fun is to lose yourself in the game. I was pleased with the way the kids did that tonight.”

And especially the way the team rolled the final 4:21 of the first half when KU closed with 17 straight points.

“At the four minute time out I said, ‘Let’s get a push right before halftime,”’ Williams said. “It wasn’t a, ‘Win one for the Gipper’ speech, just to give it a great push.”

KU’s coach believes the Jayhawks beat a dangerous basketball team.

“With Markus (Carr) out there … he does such a great job penetrating and finding the open man,” Williams said.

“We felt we had to aim the defense at (6-foot-9) Heinle. He was shooting the highest percentage,” said Williams, who used a man defense, plus a lot of point zone because of foul woes.

The Jayhawks dominated the stat sheet, hitting 60.7 percent of their shots to the Matadors’ 39.1 percent. KU had a 46-25 rebound advantage.

“It’s a lot of fun to play like that,” Gooden said. “We beat a good basketball team, one we knew we couldn’t take lightly. Now we’ll practice a day and try to get ready for the second round. We’re happy to be one of the teams still playing.”