photo by: Richard Gwin

Kansas guard Frank Mason III (0) lays in two of his 17 points in the Jayhawks' 75-56 win against New Mexico State Friday, March 20, 2015 at the CenturyLink Center, Omaha, NE.

photo by: Richard Gwin

Kansas guard Frank Mason III (0) lays in two of his 17 points in the Jayhawks' 75-56 win against New Mexico State Friday, March 20, 2015 at the CenturyLink Center, Omaha, NE.

It’s been a while since I remember seeing the Kansas University basketball team play such a care-free first-round NCAA Tournament game.

Typically, in recent years, the Jayhawks have been a little tight and struggled to get going during the early rounds. But that was not the case during Friday’s 75-56 victory over New Mexico State.

Following up a day in which upsets and lower seeds rocked the tournament, Kansas jumped out and set the tone early with some hot shooting and high energy and never gave New Mexico State a chance.

The Aggies’ had enough elements and pieces to give KU trouble in some areas, but Frank Mason stepped up and led the way offensively and the rest of the team followed to move KU into the next round with relative ease.

Quick takeaway

Bottom line, that’s as complete of a game as I remember this team playing in weeks. KU played with great energy and toughness, shared the ball, scored inside and out and played fantastic defense, particularly inside against New Mexico State’s big front line. The whole thing seemed to be the result of a team that showed up loose and confident, ready to have fun. If the Jayhawks can keep that attitude from here on out, there’s no telling how far they could advance.

Three reasons to smile

1 – KU’s outside shooting returned with a vengeance. The Jayhawks’ 9 of 13 shooting from three-point range marked the highest three-point percentage by a KU team since the 1996-97 team made 5 of 7 (71.3 percent) in a victory over Virginia in Maui. Five different Jayhawks made three-pointers in the win over NMSU, and four of those five made two triples. One of the most important people in that equation was Brannen Greene, who misfired on his first two attempts of the day and then drained a couple in the second half.

photo by: Richard Gwin

Jayhawk fans watch the Jayhawks second-round NCAA tournament game against New Mexico State Friday, March 20, 2015 at the CenturyLink Center, Omaha, Neb.

2 – Kansas continued to play aggressive offensively, with Wayne Selden, Kelly Oubre, Frank Mason and even Jamari Traylor and Devonte’ Graham attacking the paint with the dribble more often than not. That only led to 15 free throw attempts on Friday, but it opened up some other things in KU’s offense, set the tone for the entire game and has to be the mentality Kansas has the rest of the way.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Kansas forward Jamari Traylor (31), left, and Landen Lucas (33) right, go for a rebound against New Mexico State center Tshilidzi Nephawe (15) in the Jayhawks second-round NCAA tournament game against New Mexico State Friday, March 20, 2015 at the CenturyLink Center, Omaha, Neb.

3 – KU’s post defense was sensational. Every time the Aggies dumped it into to their big guys, the Jayhawks trapped the post with two big guys and that really forced NMSU out of its offense. NMSU coach Marvin Menzies said after the game that even though the Jayhawks aren’t necessarily the tallest dudes, their length and active nature made it seem like the NMSU post players were being trapped by “two seven footers.”

Three reasons to sigh

1 – Perry Ellis was pretty quiet overall and only played 23 minutes. He looked fine at times and showed that nothing bad has happened to his jump shot. But his touch in close along with his ability to explode off the floor still seems a bit off. KU led by double digits for the entire second half, so maybe this was just a good time to rest Ellis a little in anticipation of Sunday’s showdown. Ellis finished with 9 points, 4 rebounds, 2 turnovers and 1 steal, block and assist.

photo by: Richard Gwin

Kansas forward Perry Ellis (34) is stripped of the ball by New Mexico State guard Daniel Mullings (23) and center Tshilidzi Nephawe (15) in the Jayhawks second-round NCAA tournament game against New Mexico State Friday, March 20, 2015 at the CenturyLink Center, Omaha, Neb.

2 – New Mexico State’s press and harassing D certainly had something to do with it, but the 14 turnovers for Kansas was a little higher than anyone in crimson and blue would like to see, particularly when you consider that nine of those 14 came from the guys who handle the ball the most.

photo by: Richard Gwin

Kansas guard Kelly Oubre, Jr. (12) puts pressure on New Mexico State forward Remi Barry (3) in the Jayhawks win over New Mexico State Friday, March 20, 2015 at the CenturyLink Center, Omaha, NE.

3 – It’s a pretty minor point and wasn’t really a big deal, but a couple of guys picked up fouls a little too easily. Wayne Selden and Perry Ellis finished with four fouls apiece and KU will not be able to afford to have either guy hack too much against Wichita State on Sunday.

One for the road

The Jayhawks’ solid, opening-round victory over New Mexico State:

• Made Kansas 27-8 on the season, giving KU 27 victories for the eighth time in the last nine seasons.

• Marked KU’s ninth-straight NCAA Tournament first-game victory.

• Kept Kansas unbeaten against New Mexico State in three tries.

• Improved Kansas to 97-42 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.

• Kept Kansas perfect in Omaha. Including Friday’s win and appearances in Omaha during the 2008 and 2012 NCAA Tournaments, KU is now 5-0 in Omaha.

• Pushed Self to 352-77 while at Kansas, 37-15 in the NCAA Tournament and 559-182 overall.

• Made KU 2,153-830 all-time.

Next up

The win advanced the Jayhawks to Sunday’s Round of 32, where they’ll meet No. 7 seed Wichita State at 4:15 p.m. It’s a game that everyone has been wanting to see for years now and one that will be as hyped up as any game the Jayhawks have played this season.

By the Numbers: Kansas beats New Mexico State, 75-56