Gonzaga played a nearly perfect second half, busting open a back-and-forth game with a 15-0 run Saturday to pull away from Kansas for an 89-68 win and extend its nation-best streak of trips to the Sweet 16 to nine.

Anton Watson shot 8 for 11 for 21 points on an afternoon when basically everyone in a navy jersey was a star, especially after halftime.

The fifth-seeded Zags (27-7) made their first five 3-pointers of the second half, not missing from long range until 1:30 remained and the game had long entered extended garbage time.

Mark Few’s team will make its regular trip to the second weekend to play the winner of Sunday’s game between Purdue and Utah State.

Nolan Hickman finished with 17 points for the Zags, and big man Graham Ike had 15 points and nine rebounds, going toe to toe with KU’s Hunter Dickinson, who finished with a quiet 15 points. Making all the Bulldogs look good was Ryan Nembhard, who blew off a rough shooting night (1 for 6) and finished with 12 assists.

While Gonzaga was cruising, parts of this looked painfully familiar to fans of the fourth-seeded Jayhawks (23-11), who have struggled with depth, shooting, consistency and injuries — leading scorer Kevin McCullar Jr. (knee) was out for the tournament. During Gonzaga’s 15-0 run, the Jayhawks missed 10 straight shots and never got within single digits again.

Late Friday

Midwest Region

Utah State 88, TCU 72: Isaac Johnson scored 19 points, including 12 straight early in the second half, and eighth-seeded Utah State shot 55% percent to pull away and beat No. 9 seed TCU 88-72 on Friday night and end a 10-game NCAA Tournament losing streak.

Purdue 78, Grambling State 50: Zach Edey finished with 30 points and 21 rebounds to become the first player in 29 years in the NCAA Tournament with a 30-20 game, leading top-seeded Purdue to a 78-50 rout over 16th-seeded Grambling State. And he did it all in 30 minutes.

South Region

Houston 86, Longwood 46: LJ Cryer and Damian Dunn scored 17 points each as top-seeded Houston built a quick double-digit lead and pounded 16 seed Longwood 86-46 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

James Madison 72, Wisconsin 61: Terrence Edwards Jr. scored 14 points and James Madison pulled off the first 12-5 upset of the NCAA Tournament by beating Wisconsin 72-61. The Dukes, who had not been in the tournament since 2013, are into the second round for the first time since 1983 — bringing with them a 14-game winning streak that is the longest in the nation.