The Kansas men's basketball team has had trouble putting teams away to stay this season. That wasn't a problem Saturday against Colorado.

With the Jayhawks ahead by just seven points, 57-50, and less than 12 minutes to play, Kansas coach Bill Self took advantage of a media time-out to draw up a play.

Seconds later, senior guard Aaron Miles spun a high pass over all five Buffaloes to senior forward Wayne Simien, who threw it down in front of an electrified Allen Fieldhouse crowd.

"That play and getting a couple key stops really energized us," Simien said.

The rout was on.

Eight unanswered points — all scored by seniors — ensured that the Buffaloes would not claw back into contentention, as the Kansas State Wildcats did against the Jayhawks last Wednesday in Manhattan.

"Just look at how our seniors stepped up," junior forward Christian Moody said. "Keith and Wayne were really hitting shots."

Senior guard Keith Langford scored 10 of his 14 points after that cruicial time-out, while Simien pulled down six of his team-high 12 rebounds in the same span.

The Jayhawks had delivered the knockout blow, and they kept punching.

After establishing a 19-point lead, the seniors once again decimated Colorado with quick drives, powerful rebounds and converted free throws during a 12-point rally. All three senior starters scored 14 or more points during the afternoon.

But it didn't hurt that the Buffaloes missed layups, open three-pointers and free throws.

"We let it get to our heads," Colorado junior foward Andy Osborn said. "They were starting to hit shots and we backed down when we should have stepped up."

With the score 85-57 after the second knockout punch, Colorado coach Ricardo Patton called a time-out to make some lineup changes.

"They dropped their heads and didn't respond at the other end," Patton said of his players. "That was my reason for playing some of the other guys in the last three minutes."

Self also made substitutions, fielding a closing lineup that included seldom-used reserves Nick Bahe, sophomore guard, and Darnell Jackson, freshman forward. Fellow freshman forward C.J. Giles, who returned from a lingering foot injury, was also on the floor. And the Buffaloes still couldn't score.

After being held scoreless for almost five minutes, Colorado hit three free throws in the final two minutes, bringing its point total to 60 and denying KU fans the free Qdoba tacos that accompany a 59-point defensive performance.

"They just broke," Langford said of the Buffaloes. "We cranked it up a little bit and they turned it over a little more than they wanted to."

Colorado had four turnovers in the final six minutes, while Kansas had just one.

Self said his team performed best when Colorado switched back to a man-to-man defense. The Buffaloes had played a zone for most of the game, but switched when the Jayhawks started hitting three-point shots.

"We kind of put it all together and started making shots. We executed against the zone. Then when they went man, we really executed a lot better," Self said. "That was really the best we've played for a period of time. It was fun to watch."

Edited by Ashley Bechard