Lagerald Vick’s 360 dunk symbolizes Kansas turnaround into rout of Purdue

Once upon a time, Purdue had the lead against Kansas.

Then the top-seeded Jayhawks took over, making that eight-point first-half advantage feel like it happened in an alternate universe as Kansas cruised to a 98-66 victory in Thursday night’s second Midwest Region semifinal.

Nothing defined the takeover like a 14-2 run in the second half that broke open a six-point Kansas lead into a runaway. And nothing during that run was as memorable as Lagerald Vick’s dazzling 360-degree dunk.

It brought the Sprint Center — filled overwhelmingly with Kansas fans — to a deafening roar, and it snuffed any life out of Purdue’s upset hopes.

And it seemed to spark Vick’s teammates to pile on. Josh Jackson followed with a 3-pointer, then it was Frank Mason III draining a 3 and Jackson adding his own alley-oop dunk.

Mason and Devonte Graham each scored 26 points. Jackson had a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. The Jayhawks shot 66.7 percent in the second half.

“It was one of the best games we played all year,” coach Bill Self said.

Slow start: Purdue big man Caleb Swanigan, a player of the year contender, had a quiet start in the Boilermakers’ loss.

He took only two shots in the first half, and the one he made was a 3-pointer. He finished with 18 points and seven rebounds but didn’t make a major impact. Swanigan was averaging 18.5 points and 12.6 boards.

“The story is Caleb only got seven (rebounds),” Self said.

He shot 6 of 11 from the field but took only seven shots that were not 3-pointers. He also turned the ball over five times.

Despite the pregame storyline being Purdue’s big men against Kansas’ guards, the Jayhawks outrebounded Purdue 36-29.

No shot: Thirty-one of Michigan’s 58 shots in its Sweet 16 loss to Oregon were 3-pointers. The Wolverines hit 11 for a 35.5 percent clip, down from 47.8 percent in their first two games.

Asked if he would have liked to have gone inside more, coach John Beilein pointed out the Wolverines struggled there too. Forward Moritz Wagner played only eight minutes in the second half after shooting 2 of 8.

“It’s very difficult to do that in that (Oregon) defense,” Beilein said. “It’s hard to get that look.”

Home court: Despite a seesaw game that came down to the last shot, the Oregon-Michigan opener lacked much buzz from the crowd. That’s because everyone in this town was waiting for Kansas-Purdue.

“Anytime you had the season that Kansas has had, you’ve earned the right to be as close to home as possible,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said.