Cindy Yeo

Kansas senior guard Keith Langford drives past Nebraska guard Jake Muhleisen with 8 minutes remaining in the first half of Saturday’s game. Langford finished with 27 points in the Jayhawks’ victory against the Cornhuskers in Lincoln, Neb.

LINCOLN, Neb. — During breakfast on Saturday morning, the Kansas Jayhawks watched a little bit of film. It wasn’t the first time they had seen it, but coach Bill Self wanted to make sure the memory of last year’s defeat against Nebraska was fresh in their minds.

The Kansas coaches already had used the film twice on Friday as a motivational tactic for Saturday’s game against the Cornhuskers.

They didn’t watch a particular shot or the last few minutes of the game. The Jayhawks watched the film of the students pouring onto the court after Kansas’ 19-point defeat at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln.

As if they had forgotten.

“I remember the game well. That was embarrassing,” junior forward Christian Moody said. “You get excited about playing them up here, and we knew that we had to play well to beat them up here. That showed from how we played last year and lost.”

Saturday was a different story. The Jayhawks throttled the Cornhuskers 78-65, improving to 18-1 overall and 8-0 in the Big 12 Conference.

With or without the reminder of last season’s loss, the Jayhawks were still hot about giving Nebraska an opportunity to win in Allen Fieldhouse three weeks ago. None of them had forgotten Nebraska forward Corey Simms’ buzzer-beating three-point attempt that, had it been good, would have knocked off Kansas on its home court.

Also on their minds was the last game’s altercation between Nebraska freshman Joe McCray, who scored 19 on the Jayhawks in the last game, and senior guard Mike Lee. It’s no wonder Kansas was fired up to get some revenge on Nebraska.

Senior guard Keith Langford said there was not a lack of motivation, especially after the Jayhawks watched that film three times.

“The little things like that help out,” Langford said. “Even the scuffle that some of the guys got into back at the Fieldhouse, that gave us added incentive coming up here. Getting beat up here last year gives us incentive.”

That was obvious from the early moments of the game — especially with Langford, who led all scorers with 27 points, tying his career high. Langford’s 11 first-half points ignited the Jayhawks, who were slightly sluggish in the first 10 minutes of the first half.

For the first time this season, Langford said he felt like he put together two good halves, something that Kansas coach Bill Self talked to him about this week.

“He told me I had to get off to a good start and get involved early,” Langford said. “I put two halves together and that made the difference today.”

Langford’s performance was certainly a difference-maker for the Jayhawks. Langford and fellow senior Wayne Simien combined for 45 of the Jayhawks’ 78 points. The four seniors combined for 61 points.

“I just came out and asserted myself,” Langford said. “No one ever gets mad at me for taking a shot or trying to be aggressive.”

After trailing by as many as seven points 10 minutes into the game, the Jayhawks went on a 10-1 run that caught fire after back-to-back three-pointers from senior guard Aaron Miles and Langford.

Kansas also moved into a 3-2 zone after Nebraska got off to an early lead, helping it bounce back to take a 36-31 halftime lead. The Jayhawks just increased the margin from there.

Langford drilled a pair of threes right after the intermission, and the Jayhawks’ 62 percent field goal shooting helped them stretch their lead to 12 with just more than five minutes to play in the game.

Kansas went six of seven from the line in the final two and a half minutes to win by 13.

Missed free throws late in the game were the main reason that the game earlier in the season was too close for comfort. Kansas hit only two of seven shots from the free-throw line in the last three minutes of the game, giving Nebraska an opportunity at a game-winning shot.

Not on Saturday.

The play of the Kansas seniors, led by Langford, kept the Jayhawks strong even when they were leading by a large margin, something they have struggled to do all year.

“We were a much more focused team today,” Self said.

Perhaps the Kansas seniors wanted to force the coaches to be a little more creative with their coaching tactics next year.

Edited by Azita Tafreshi