Kansas coach Bill Self says he has great respect for the Jayhawks’ second-round opponent, University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

The Rebels rolled to a 31-10 halftime lead en route to a 71-58 victory over Kent State on Thursday at Qwest Center.

“Coach (Lon) Kruger is a great coach. Everybody knows it. He is fabulous,” Self said of the former Kansas State player and coach, who was Self’s predecessor at the University of Illinois.

“He was a perfect guy to follow at Illinois. The guys (Illini) were well-taught. He has no ego. He just wanted our guys to be successful. I was happy for his great run (advancing to Sweet 16 in NCAAs) last year with his son (Kevin). They lost a lot of guys and are back. They are undersized, (but) very athletic. They play well on both ends.”

KU assistant Joe Dooley scouted the Rebels’ rout of Kent State.

“They are good, balanced, have good guard play. They are very athletic in all five spots,” Dooley said. Guards Wink Adams and Rene Rougeau had 17 and 12 points respectively, while forward Joe Darger tallied 18 in Thursday’s victory.

“They (Golden Flashes) couldn’t make a pass. They (Rebels) didn’t let the ball get reversed. The pressurized passes set the tempo.”

Dooley said the (27-7) Rebels are for real.

“They have seven losses. How many teams in America have (just) seven losses?” Dooley said. “That tells you a lot right there.”

¢ Free throws clang: Sasha Kaun hit just one of six free throws against Portland State on a day KU made seven of 15.

“It was just one of those days when the shots don’t fall,” said Kaun, who had seven rebounds and three points in 12 minutes. “You’ve got to bounce back and hit them the next game.”

¢ Ailment: KU senior Rodrick Stewart had two points, two rebounds and two turnovers in eight minutes.

He was looking forward to not having a game until Saturday.

“It allows some guys to get treatment. I’m a little bit sick,” Stewart said.

The flu?

“No, my throat is sore,” he said.

As far as the key to KU holding Portland State to 38.2 percent shooting, Stewart said: “It had to do with us locking them up on defense. We were aggressive from the beginning.”

¢ Stats, facts: Brandon Rush became the 21st player in KU history to score 1,400 points. One spot ahead of Rush on the all-time scoring list is Wilt Chamberlain, who tallied 1,433 points in his two-year career (1957-58)…. KU’s 12 threes in 25 tries were second most by a KU team in NCAA play, tying the Kentucky game in 1999. KU hit 13 against Niagara last season. … Rush has averaged 21.7 points over his last three games (28 versus Texas A&M, 19 against Texas, 18 versus Portland State). … Sherron Collins hit three treys and has 82 for his career. He passed Greg Gurley for 21st on KU’s all-time list. … Russell Robinson dished four assists to up his career total 487 and move him past Ryan Robertson (485, 1996-99) into eighth place on the KU career list. … KU hit seven of 15 free-throw attempts for 46.7 percent, which is the second lowest percentage for a KU team in an NCAA Tournament game. The all-time low was 45.5 percent against UCLA in 2007. … .KU won its 23rd NCAA Tournament first-round game in the last 25 years dating to 1978. … KU is 77-36 all-time in the NCAAs. … KU is 4-1 in NCAA Tourney games played in Nebraska. … KU is 10-0 against the current membership of the Big Sky Conference, including 3-0 in 2007-08.