He sat behind KU’s basketball bench as a North Crowley (Texas) High School senior/KU men’s basketball signee and shook his head as thousands of fans stormed the court after the Bears’ stunning victory.

“I know what happened. I remember,” Langford, a Fort Worth, Texas, native, said after helping to exorcise the demons of two seasons ago by scoring 19 points off 7-of-10 shooting in the No. 9-ranked Jayhawks’ 79-58 victory over the unranked Bears Tuesday back at Ferrell Center.

“I was mad back then because some of the fans were talking noise, telling me I should have come to Baylor,” Langford recalled of the Bears’ 85-77 win. “Tonight was more important to the guys who played in that game — Nick (Collison, 15 points), Kirk (Hinrich, 14 points) and Bryant (Nash, five points, five boards). I was still in high school. I probably had a game the next day, so it didn’t bother me too much.”

Langford, a 6-foot-3 left-hander, was fired up Tuesday playing before his parents, several other family members and friends who made the hour-and-a-half drive from Fort Worth to Waco.

“I like to play well in front of people who support me,” Langford said. “One of my high school teammates — Tommy Swanson — plays for Baylor. He didn’t play, but I was jaw-jackin’ with him a lot tonight.”

Early on, it looked as if the Jayhawks (18-5 overall, 8-1 Big 12 Conference) might not have much to brag about against BU (10-10, 1-8).

Langford had 12 points in the final 10 minutes of the first half, helping KU shake a slow start and grab a 41-28 lead at the break.

The Jayhawks, who committed seven of the wildest turnovers imaginable in the early going, led Baylor, 31-28, with 3:08 to play.

Some of KU’s seven first-half turnovers included a wild pass from Aaron Miles past Nash near halfcourt. Also, Miles fired a wild pass to Graves inside, and Graves fumbled an inside feed from Collison.

Hinrich also rifled a pass over Collison’s head out of bounds.

“We had seven turnovers the first 10 minutes. I stood up and screamed and made one of those coaching genius statements: ‘Just get a shot,”’ KU coach Roy Williams quipped. “After that start, it was important we just get shots.”

One memorable shot was Graves’ miss of a slam dunk on a breakaway. The ball hit so hard off the back of the rim it sailed all the way to the opposite free throw line.

BU’s tiny crowd of 8,758 howled in delight.

Seconds later, with 12:38 left in the half, BU’s Kenny Taylor drilled a three, giving the Bears an 11-8 lead.

KU closed the first half with a 10-0 run to grab a 13-point lead at halftime. Collison had four points and Langford two in that burst.

The Jayhawks opened the second half with a 10-2 surge, effectively ending the ballgame. Collison had five points, including a three, in that run as KU led, 51-30, four minutes into the half. The Jayhawks’ biggest lead reached 26 points (74-48) with 5:30 left.

“We were much better defensively and did a much better job of getting the shot we wanted,” Williams said of the second half.

The shot Baylor wanted was a three. The Bears hit five of 16 the first half and six of 19 the second. John Lucas missed eight of 11 threes, but tied for team-leading scoring honors with R.T. Guinn at 15 points each.

“They shot more threes. They need to do that,” Williams said of the Bears, who lead the Big 12 in threes attempted and made.

Williams didn’t express any great satisfaction in avenging the loss of two years ago.

“It was a much better memory for me seeing Keith on the court,” Williams said. “The last time we played here he was a high school senior and drove down to watch us with his mother and some others. The fact of the matter is, the first half he did the most (positive) things of anybody.”

Collison was huge in the 20-2 run that closed the first and opened the second half. He was a sophomore the year Baylor’s fans stormed the court. This time, only about 2,000 fans remained in the stands at game’s end.

“It was better this time, but that was a long time ago. The same players weren’t playing,” Collison said. “For a conference game, this is the least people we’ve had at a game. It does make it a lot easier.”

Of the revenge motive, Hinrich, who had 14 points off 6-of-11 shooting with five assists and five rebounds while playing with a severe cold, said: “That was on our minds. The last time we were in the building we were horrible. We wanted to come out and do better tonight.”

KU will next meet Iowa State at noon Sunday at Allen Fieldhouse.