“I felt if I really, really wanted to and would have played a lot, I’d be somewhere in the 30s,” said Langford, Kansas University’s senior guard who finished with 24 points in 23 minutes in the Jayhawks’ 96-51 rout.

He nearly matched his career best of 27 points, set against Arizona his sophomore season.

“That wasn’t what we needed tonight,” said Langford, who sat the final 10 1/2 minutes. “Once I got to 19, if coach said, ‘Keith, you will not play anymore tonight’, I’d have been fine with that.”

That’s because Langford and the other KU starters enjoyed watching the seldom-used Jayhawks earn meaningful minutes.

Scott McClurg/Journal-World Photo

Freshman Alex Galindo scored nine points in 11 minutes, junior Jeff Hawkins hit two three-pointers in six minutes, and sophomore Nick Bahe grabbed four rebounds with three points and two assists in 12 minutes.

Stephen Vinson, who had not played all year because of a groin injury, collected two assists in five minutes.

“It’s cool. You get a view of the game you don’t necessarily see,” Langford said of sitting the pine. “Some other guys who work hard at practice … it’s a reward for them.

“Guys sitting out the last 10 minutes are not worried about lack of stats or not being on the floor. They are happy to see Steve, Nick, Jeff, those guys out there.”

KU sophomore J.R. Giddens, who had 16 points in 19 minutes, said the minutes for KU’s freshman and others could prove valuable down the line.

“If they step up now,” Giddens said, “they’ll also be stepping up at the end of the season when it really counts.”

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Rodrick flying to Seattle, not Lawrence: USC sophomore guard Lodrick Stewart, the twin of 6-4 Rodrick Stewart, told L.A. writers on Saturday night Rodrick was hopping on a plane Sunday and heading to KU.

“I have to check the travel agency to make sure he (Lodrick) doesn’t go with (Rodrick),” USC interim coach Jim Saia quipped of Lodrick Stewart, who scored 27 points in the Trojans’ 87-75 victory over San Diego.

Actually, Rodrick, who wants to transfer to KU provided his academics are in order, boarded a flight Sunday from Los Angeles to his hometown of Seattle, not Kansas City International.

Stewart’s dad, Bull, said he believed his son had satisfied all academic requirements for a transfer but needed the paperwork to come through.

Rodrick Stewart told rivals.com Sunday that he did well in finals and still wanted to attend KU. It’s believed Rodrick, who was academically ineligible first semester at USC, would be able to practice at KU immediately if his first-semester performance in the classroom deemed him eligible at USC. If not, he would not be able to practice here until the start of second semester Jan. 20.

If Stewart does complete a transfer to KU, he’d be eligible to play second semester of the 2005-06 season. KU’s coaches can’t comment on recruiting in accordance with NCAA rules.

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Tests: Finals week begins for the student body today at Kansas. Thus, the Jayhawks will have a light load of practice while gearing for Saturday’s 7 p.m. home battle against South Carolina.

“We’ll practice between classes and tests, an hour and 15 minutes,” Self said. “When they get through we may go longer. Finals takes priority.”

He said, “Knock on wood, all are doing pretty well in class.”

Self said the freshmen would be warned about the difficulty of finals week.

“We anticipate spending numerous time talking about what finals week is like. We tell the young guys it’s not a normal week,” Self said. “You may go a night or two with one, two hours sleep if you do it right. We emphasize the academic part as hard as a team can emphasize it.”

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Wright’s line: KU signee Julian Wright scored 19 points with eight rebounds and five steals in Homewood-Flossmoor’s 73-35 victory over Shepard on Friday in Chicagoland basketball.

He had 16 points off 7-of-16 shooting in a 55-41 victory over Webster Groves, Mo., at last week’s KMOX Shootout in St. Louis. At that tourney, he was scouted by NBA scouts and assistant general managers B.J. Armstrong, Danny Ferry and Danny Ainge.

“When I get in the game it is all about getting the win. I would be a fool to think about that other stuff,” Wright told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons told the paper that the majority of NBA scouts at the event said Wright should forget NBA talk and head next season to KU.

“I don’t think he’d go to the NBA unless he was a very high pick. He’s excited about going to college,” said Glenbrook North junior Jon Scheyer, a buddy of Wright’s.