Kansas vs. Purdue: Score and Twitter Reaction from March Madness 2017

The Kansas Jayhawks became the third team to make the 2017 Elite Eight field, turning in an absolutely dominant performance against the Purdue Boilermakers in the form of a 98-66 win. 

The Jayhawks' dominance in the tournament has been a rarity to this point in the tournament, per ESPN Stats & Info:

Sometimes, talent simply wins out in a game, which appeared to be the case here. Purdue fought to keep the game close, but ultimately Kansas had too many weapons for the Boilermakers to stop their opponent. 

After a close game early, Kansas took over and ran Purdue off the court. Jason King of Bleacher Report added context to the dominance:

The trio of Frank Mason, Devonte Graham and Josh Jackson alone was enough to compete with the Boilermakers, but Kansas had even more players step up to play a role in the statement win:

The Jayhawks had four of five starters in double figures and even had a double-digit scorer off the bench. Lagerald Vick not only scored 12 points, but he also provided one of the better highlights in the game with a 360 dunk:

Mason was nearly unstoppable with the basketball in his hands, putting up 26 points, seven assists and seven rebounds. 

Graham added another 26 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field. 

Jackson did well to raise his draft stock and move his team to the Elite Eight. He put up a dominant stat line, contributing on both ends of the floor and showing that Purdue had nothing to offer him.

The Boilermakers tried everything they could to keep up with Kansas, but they didn't have the ammunition. Purdue's big lineup, with Caleb Swanigan and Isaac Haas, was certainly not the answer. The Jayhawks practically ran them out of the building as they continued to build their lead in the second half.  

A lot of Purdue's chances rested on the shoulders of Swanigan, who is a candidate for National Player of the Year. The big man has been the anchor for the Boilermakers inside all season, but they were able to essentially force the big man into being a perimeter player with swarming defense. 

Swanigan ended the game with 18 points and seven rebounds in the loss. 

Purdue got off to as strong of a start as the Boilermakers could have hoped for from the tip, but it wasn't sustained throughout the first half. They jumped out to a 25-18 lead thanks to a 4-of-4 start from beyond the arc as a team, but once the Jayhawks settled in, the narrative shifted. 

Kansas got a whole lot of offense from Mason, who scored 15 points in the first frame, with Graham chipping in an additional 10.

Jackson was relatively silent on the scoring side of things. He only put up seven points in the half on 3-of-8 shooting, but he did contribute five rebounds, two assists, three steals and a massive dunk:

Jackson was also a big reason that Swanigan was almost a non-factor offensively for the Boilermakers. Brian Hamilton of Sports Illustrated noted the Jayhawks defense against the big man:

In addition to only giving him two shots from the field, he also turned the ball over four times in the first 20 minutes. 

Bill Self touched on his team's defensive philosophy of shutting down the bigs at half:

That defense only got better in the second half, and the Jayhawks showed why they should be considered a legitimate threat to cut down the nets at the end of this tournament. 

The next step for the Jayhawks will be an Elite Eight matchup against the Oregon Ducks, who are coming off a one-point win against the Michigan Wolverines.   

Postgame Reaction

Mason obviously put on one of the best performances in this year's tournament, but after the game, he was all about taking care of business in the Elite Eight:

Purdue head coach Matt Painter was a man with no answers for Kansas. He didn't think anybody else would have answers for the Jayhawks either, though, per Jayhawk Slant:

Josh Jackson credit Kansas' ability to turn the game into a track meet for the win.

"We made it a fast-paced game and wore them down," Jackson said, per Jayhawk Slant. 

With Purdue's season now over, the question becomes whether their key players will be returning next year. According to Nathan Baird of the Journal and Courier, none of the Boilermakers underclassmen were ready to commit either way:

Even though they were buried by a team that could very well go on to win the title, this was still a great season, so what their best players do going forward is worth keeping an eye on.