Scott McClurg/Journal-World PhotoWayne Simien always feels good about Kansas University’s chances of winning on days a certain Jayhawk buries his first shot.
“When Keith gets it going early, his confidence skyrockets, and he’s tough to stop,” Simien said after he and fellow junior Keith Langford erupted for 48 points — 26 and 22 respectively — in the Jayhawks’ 79-58 men’s basketball victory Sunday over Oklahoma at Allen Fieldhouse.
“Keith kind of had his swagger tonight, getting to the hole, making plays. When he does that, you see the vocal energy he provides.”
Langford hit his first four shots and scored nine points as KU rolled to a 20-7 lead, and the Jayhawks (18-7 overall, 10-4 Big 12 Conference) appeared confident and energized throughout the victory.
Langford pumped his fist, whooped and hollered after baskets and, along with Aaron Miles, had fiery words of wisdom to inspire guard Michael Lee, who busted a slump by scoring 12 points off the bench the second half.
“I have to be more vocal, more active, have better body language and expressions on my face,” Langford said. “It’s starting to come.
“I’ve done it in some past games. I’m making a more conscious effort for the rest of the season, just saying something, not being quiet. You have to be a presence.”
Langford made his presence known against the Sooners (16-9, 6-8), hitting nine of 15 shots, with three assists and four rebounds in 29 minutes.
“I’m doing it because it’s what the team needs,” said Langford, who said his increased vocalization wasn’t at the specific request of coach Bill Self. “Coach always tells the team you can say what you want to as far as who the team feeds off of, but when I play well, when I have a lot of energy, even in practice, the guys play a little better, with a lot more energy too.
“It’s sort of comparable with Kirk and Nick,” he added of former team leaders Kirk Hinrich and Nick Collison.
Langford has shown great speaking ability in the past, but mostly off the court.
He was asked if the Jayhawks’ confidence was back following Monday’s 15-point loss at Texas, KU’s fourth straight road setback.
“This team has a lot of confidence. You’ve got to be able to handle your emotions like a man. You can’t be all up and down. That’s female stuff. No offense,” he added, looking up to see if any female reporters had tape recorders in his face.
Langford had two points in an 11-0 run that boosted a 40-38 lead to 51-38 in the second half. Perhaps as importantly, he helped inspire Lee, who had a three-pointer to open that run and another basket in the surge.
“I’d been pouting,” said Lee, who had been yanked from the floor in the first half after committing a turnover. “Aaron yelled at me, ‘Stop forcing it.’ He was pretty frustrated with me, too, but I don’t blame him. Keith actually was in everyone’s face. That’s OK. We needed it. I needed it.
“Aaron and Keith were real vocal. If you messed up, they were in your face. It wasn’t because they were mad, they were saying, ‘Let’s go.”’
Lee, who finished with 12 points off 5-of-7 shooting, was asked if Miles and Langford had been vocal in prior games.
“Not as much as they need to be,” Lee said.
Of his own leadership, Miles, who had 10 assists against three turnovers but just two points, said: “I had a talk with coach Self. It has been on my mind, my leadership. I know I’m a good leader, but as far as getting on people, putting pressure on people to do everything and not just say, ‘We’ll get it back.’
“We probably should have been doing it earlier, but I’m glad we’re doing it now. We should be doing it every day together.
“Today Keith and Wayne really led us. They almost had 50 points between them. That’s pretty good.”
Being vocal cost Oklahoma.
Coach Kelvin Sampson was hit with a technical foul with 9:11 left with KU leading, 59-49. Lee had five points, Simien four and Langford a slam dunk off an alley-oop lob from Miles in a 11-3 spurt that gave KU a 70-52 lead at 5:57.
“It was a big deal then,” Self said, “but I don’t think the technical impacted the game. We’ve been on the other end of that. It probably helped us.”
Self liked the fact Lee showed some fire on the bench after Self pulled him from the game, looking his coach in the face when answering his rebuke.
“If guys are happy when they are taken out of a game, they are not very great competitors,” Self said. “Guys deserve to come out when they don’t do what they are supposed to do. He got the message. When he got back in he really played.”
The Jayhawks also received bench production from Jeff Graves, who had seven boards in 26 minutes, taking over for David Padgett who suffered a sprained ankle in the second half.
KU will meet Nebraska at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Allen Fieldhouse.
It will be the final home game for seniors Graves, Bryant Nash and Brett Olson.
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