WICHITA, Kan. — Bill Self was right. So was Las Vegas. Penn didn’t deserve to be a 16-seed. The first 12:57 of their Midwest Region opening-round game illustrated that.

The rest of the afternoon, however, also showed why Kansas deserved to be a No. 1 seed, and Devonte’ Graham is a Naismith Award finalist.

The senior guard ignited a 22-5 run, turning a 10-point deficit into a seven-point halftime lead, scoring 15 points in the game-turning spurt that extinguished Penn’s historical upset hopes. His teammates followed his lead, and the Jayhawks moved onto the next round with a hard-fought 76-60 victory over the Ivy League champion, which had the best odds of a 16-seed to knock off a No. 1 in 12 years, at Kansas-heavy Intrust Bank Arena on Thursday.

“He realized what was going on in the game. He has a great feel for the game,” Penn guard Darnell Foreman said of the smooth, 6-foot-2 Graham. “He knew, being a senior leader also, that he needed to step up and force the tone and create, and he did a good job of that.”

It was 21-11 Penn over 12 minutes into the game, and the Jayhawks faithful was library-quiet. The 13.5-point underdog Quakers were getting great looks and limiting Kansas to one shot. It was the start they needed, neutralizing the partisan crowd, in hopes of becoming the first No. 16 to beat a No. 1 in 133 chances.

“They were so much better than us early,” Self said. “We were forcing it. We were only down [21-11]. We felt like we could have been down 12 or 15 [points] easily at that point.”

Graham, though, quickly woke everyone up, scoring six straight points to turn momentum, playing aggressive but under control, making the shaky start moot. The lead was in double figures early in the second half, and while Penn (24-9) did get as close as four midway through the stanza, Kansas (28-7) pulled away late, asserting its significant athleticism edge.

“He was keeping everybody’s heads right,” Kansas guard Lagerald Vick said. “He told us we weren’t going to lose.”

Graham, the Big 12 Player of the Year, poured in a game-high 29 points and added six rebounds and six assists. Vick followed with 14 points and Mitch Lightfoot chipped in nine points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots, supplying quality production in the paint for the perimeter-oriented Jayhawks. A.J. Brodeur and Caleb Wood each had 14 points for Penn, which hurt itself by making just 5-of-14 free throw attempts and shot only 39 percent from the field.

“I do feel foul shots were a big part of this, and this unfortunately was part of our DNA this year,” Penn coach Steve Donahue said. “We were able to overcome it. But if you’re going to beat a team like Kansas in this environment, you just got to make them. It’s more than just the points. Your morale kind of gets a hit.”

Especially when a national player of the year contender is converting at the other end of the floor, making every mistake that much more glaring.