photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas forward Mitch Lightfoot (44) defends against a shot from Penn guard Antonio Woods (2) during the second half, Thursday, March 15, 2018 at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kan.

Wichita — The top-seeded Kansas Jayhawks knew entering their NCAA Tournament opener against Penn that getting past the Ivy League champions would be no easy task.

With senior point guard Devonte’ Graham leading the way, the Jayhawks moved on to the second round of The Madness for the 12th March in a row.

Here are five statistics that fueled the Jayhawks (28-7) against the Quakers.

KU’s defense

Penn entered the NCAA Tournament as a team built more on defense than offense. For Kansas it was imperative the Quakers didn’t get hot and gain confidence offensively.

Although the Quakers jumped out to a 21-11 lead early in the first half, the Jayhawks’ defenders settled in and limited Penn to 35.7-percent shooting in the first 20 minutes as the underdogs missed 11 of their final 15 shot attempts leading into the halftime break.

Kansas kept Penn leading scorer Ryan Betley in check (3-for-9 shooting, 8 points) and limited A.J. Brodeur, a 54.2-percent shooter entering the game, to 6-of-16 success from the field.

The Quakers only converted on 39.3 percent of the shot attempts. They were the first KU opponent to shoot under 40 percent since the Jayhawks won at Kansas State (though West Virginia shot exactly 40 percent in the Big 12 title game).

KU’s defense might be trending the right direction ahead of a Saturday matchup with Seton Hall, which scored 94 points against North Carolina State.

Lightfoot’s 2nd half

With Udoka Azubuike limited while recovering from a sprained MCL in his left knee, Kansas needed some interior contributions from either Silvio De Sousa, the unexpected breakout performer of the Big 12 tournament, of sophomore forward Mitch Lightfoot.

Against Penn, the slightly more experienced Lightfoot came through after Azubuike played 3 relatively ineffective minutes in the first half.

Before halftime, Lightfoot played 10 minutes. He missed a baseline jumper, grabbed 2 defensive rebounds and blocked a shot.

In the second half, though, Lightfoot gave KU far more, scoring all 9 of his points and, even more importantly, putting in work on the glass, with 2 offensive boards and 7 more rebounds on the defensive end of the floor.

His 11 boards gave the 6-foot-8 fill-in starter a new career high. And Lightfoot played solid defense, finishing with 3 blocked shots.

Vick’s efficient offensive outing

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas guard Lagerald Vick (2) gets into the paint as he is defended by Penn guard Devon Goodman (12) during the second half, Thursday, March 15, 2018 at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kan.

In one of his more effective scoring outings of his junior season, Lagerald Vick only needed 7 shot attempts to provide KU with 14 points.

Vick nailed 2 of his 4 3-point tries and both of his free-throw attempts to help his cause. But he also found low-risk, high-reward looks.

The springy guard got open for one score at the rim in each half and put in another easy basket in the paint.

The productive NCAA Tournament opener gave Vick his fourth consecutive game in double figures for the first time this season. Even when he was routinely hitting the 20-point mark in November and December, Vick never scored 10 or more points in more than three consecutive outings.

His 14 points were the most since he went for 17 in KU’s home win over Oklahoma.

The upperclassmen from Memphis didn’t force many bad shots and Kansas handled a pesky Penn team as a result. Moving forward, Vick can make an even larger imprint on the game with offensive rebounds or an assists — he finished with 0 in both categories.

Points off turnovers

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas guard Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk (10) is defended on the shot by Penn guard Ryan Betley (21) and Penn forward AJ Brodeur (25) during the first half, Thursday, March 15, 2018 at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kan.

Penn was by no means sloppy with the basketball, committing 11 turnovers, right around its season average. But when the Quakers gave the ball away, the Jayhawks often pounced.

In a 16-point victory, Kansas scored 15 points off Penn’s 11 miscues.

The Jayhawks turned the ball over only 8 times (1 away from their season low) and Penn only forged 4 points off of those slip-ups.

KU’s 11-point advantage in points off turnovers was the most since a plus-17 margin at Iowa State.

A postseason victory on the glass

Benefiting from a more athletic lineup, KU oftentimes looked faster than Penn. But the Jayhawks also utilized their advantage on the glass.

Lightfoot obviously made the biggest impact, with his 11 rebounds, but he got plenty of help as Kansas won the battle of the boards, 41-33. It marked KU’s fifth rebounding victory in the past eight games.

Starting guards Graham and Malik Newman each chipped in 6 rebounds. Freshman Marcus Garrett came in off the bench to add 5 more, and backup big De Sousa delivered 4 rebounds in just 10 minutes.

On 34 misses, Penn only came away with 5 offensive rebounds and 3 second chance points.

Kansas scored 14 points as a result of its 8 offensive boards.