Kansas City, Mo. ? All things considered, neutral to the players and coaches on the University of the Pacific men’s basketball team meant nothing more than a slot on their automobiles’ gearshifts.

On paper, Kemper Arena was a neutral site on the NCAA Tournament bracket. In reality, it was all but a home game for Kansas University.

“It’s kind of hard for me to say it wasn’t,” Pacific coach Bob Thomason said after KU eliminated his team, 78-63, Sunday afternoon. “It kept them energized, which is what the crowd is supposed to do.”

Not that the thousands of KU fans in the listed crowd of 17,667 turned the place into a snake pit.

“It wasn’t (that) we’re not used to playing in this kind of environment,” sophomore forward Christian Maraker said. “I think we dealt with it pretty good.”

According to Thomason, the KU faithful didn’t muster near the noise the Tigers hear when they go to the toughest arena in the Big West Conference.

“When we play at Utah State, it’s a lot louder than that,” Thomason said, “so those Kansas fans need to get going.”

For sure they’ll get going to St. Louis for an appointment in the Sweet 16, while the Tigers will return to Stockton, Calif., after suffering their first loss since Jan. 15 at — yep — Utah State.

For about 30 minutes Sunday afternoon, the 12th-seeded Tigers appeared capable of ascending to NCAA Cinderella-dom, but they won’t be a household name now because they just couldn’t finish.

Jayhawks, from left, Omar Wilkes, Jeff Hawkins and Jeremy Case, celebrate in the final minutes against Pacific.

Pacific went through a late horrid cold spell, making just one of nine shots while Kansas pulled away.

“I feel we went toe-to-toe with Kansas,” senior guard Miah Davis said, “and it came down to the last eight minutes, and they made shots, and we didn’t.”

Davis, the Big West Conference player of the year, did not distinguish himself in his last college game. He missed seven of 10 shots and settled for 10 points.

Pacific had tied it with just over 11 minutes left.

“I thought we had momentum, and that we were going to pull away,” Davis said, “but then they pounded the ball inside and got their momentum back.”

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Kansas big men Wayne Simien, Jeff Graves and David Padgett combined for 37 points and 24 rebounds. Simien accounted for half of those boards, and KU had a 40-27 advantage on the glass.

“We knew they were bigger and stronger than us,” said the slender 6-foot-9 Maraker, “and they used their strength pretty good. We couldn’t deal with it today.”

That Kansas was able to score 78 points was indicative of the Jayhawks’ inside dominance.

Only one team had scored more than that against the Tigers this season. That was Duke, a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Blue Devils notched 82 against Pacific in the Great Alaska Shootout.

“We needed better shooting down the stretch,” Thomason said. “I thought we had a shot, but we got a little tired. But they’re a good team. They played well down the stretch, and they deserved to win.”

Pacific finished with a 25-8 record by winning 21 of its last 23 games.