Omaha, NE -- (Sports Network) - Brandon Rush scored 18 points and grabbed six rebounds as Kansas rolled over Portland State, 85-61, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament's Midwest Regional.

Darrell Arthur added 17 points and seven boards for the Jayhawks (32-3), who were coming off their sixth Big 12 and 10th overall league tournament title. They have won eight straight games.

Mario Chalmers chipped in 16 points and Darnell Jackson joined in double figures with 10 points and four assists for top-seeded Kansas, which is making its 19th straight and 37th overall tourney appearance and will face UNLV in the next round.

"I thought we played very well the majority of the first half and shot the ball great and got off to a pretty good start," said Kansas head coach Bill Self. "That was good, because I thought we'd have some first-game jitters. In the second half we kind of puttered around. But all in all I thought we played pretty well."

Jeremiah Dominguez had a team-high 11 points for Portland State (23-10), which captured the regular season and postseason league titles in the Big Sky Conference. The Vikings were making their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.

"I don't think it's any secret Kansas is a great basketball club. They showed it today, how strong they are in a lot of different areas, and we tried to stop them a few different ways, but we struggled in almost every one of those areas," said Viking Coach Ken Bone.

It didn't take long for Kansas to get going, as Rush missed a hurried shot from beyond the arc but quickly followed with a layup. The hit off the glass sparked a 14-3 run for the Jayhawks, in which eight points came off Vikings' turnovers.

Portland State later cut its deficit to 19-12, slowing down the game to counteract the fast-paced tempo established by the Jayhawks. Both teams, though, engaged in a three-point contest that allowed Kansas to push the margin to 31-18 with 7:57 left in the first half.

The Jayhawks took a 49-26 lead into the locker room, behind a 64.3 percent field goal effort. Kansas was 8-of-13 from long range to that point, with Rush's 3-for-6 mark pacing the squad.

The outcome was never in doubt in the second half, as the Jayhawks continued the onslaught. A Russell Robinson trey made it 54-29 with a little less than 17 minutes remaining, and it was 64-39 with about 10 minutes to play.

The Vikings had a fury of baskets with about four minutes left, but Kansas matched them shot-for-shot to the final buzzer.

Game Notes

The Jayhawks ended 12-of-25 from three-point range, while the Vikings made 9- of-25 attempts...Portland State committed 16 turnovers, leading to 24 Jayhawks' points...This was the first-ever meeting between the schools on the hardwood. Kansas is 10-0 all-time against current members of the Big Sky Conference.