Watching films of last year’s 19-point basketball loss to Nebraska’s Cornhuskers made it difficult for the team meal to go down.

“Coach showed us films of when they rushed the court here last year. It gets the blood flowing,” Moody said after he and his Kansas University teammates atoned for last year’s lashing in Lincoln by downing NU, 78-65, at Devaney Center before a sellout crowd of 13,821.

Moody, who had eight points and six rebounds, wasn’t the only KU player to feel distaste for the home team after watching films Saturday morning and twice on Friday.

“Seeing the people rush the court, I was like, ‘We’re not gonna let that happen again,'” sophomore guard J.R. Giddens said after scoring seven points, but more importantly, blocking three shots while playing sticky defense on NU’s Joe McCray.

McCray, who scored 19 points in NU’s two-point loss to KU on Jan. 19 at Allen Fieldhouse, missed eight of 10 shots and was so ineffective, the freshman standout logged just four minutes of playing time the second half.

“There was definitely a sense of urgency (after watching the film),” KU senior Wayne Simien noted after scoring 18 points with 14 rebounds. “It showed this team is capable of beating us. They had a shot to beat us a couple of weeks ago at Allen Fieldhouse.”

The No. 3-ranked Jayhawks (18-1 overall, 8-0 Big 12 Conference) survived the game at KU when Corey Simms’ last-second three fell off the mark for NU (10-9, 3-5).

KU coach Bill Self didn’t show highlights of that game for motivation, sticking to what happened at Devaney a year ago.

“It was not meant as anything negative to Nebraska,” Self said. “They beat us here by 19 last year and played us tough at our place. They played a lot better than us here last year. We were much more focused today.”

KU was unbeatable Saturday, mostly because of Simien and Keith Langford, who combined for 45 of KU’s 78 points. Langford tied a career high with 27 points off 10-of-17 shooting. He hit three of six threes and all four free throws and also had three steals and four rebounds in 34 minutes.

“We talked about trying to get Keith off to a good start,” Self said. “He played great today, and Wayne was really good. The thing about Nebraska is, they don’t give anything up in transition. It’s tough to score on them. They make you earn it. Fortunately, we made shots.”

The Jayhawks, who hit 53.3 percent of their shots, trailed, 19-12, early, but received a boost for the second straight game from zone defense.

KU went on a 20-7 surge after turning to the 1-2-2 zone and grabbed a 32-26 lead with 4:10 left in the half. Simien and Langford combined for 13 points in that run. Aaron Miles started it with a three-pointer.

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“We talked about playing zone regardless of the Missouri deal,” Self said of an effective zone in Monday’s 73-61 victory over Missouri. “Aaron made a big three to get it to four, which was one of the biggest shots of the game.”

The Jayhawks closed the half on a Michael Lee three and started the second half with a pair of Langford threes.

KU opened an 11-point lead in the early going of the second half.

The Jayhawks pretty much had control the rest of the way, despite Nebraska creeping within six points (64-56) with five minutes left.

KU outscored NU, 42-34, the second half with freshman sensation McCray no factor thanks to coach’s decision of benching him in favor of Jason Dourisseau, who hit eight of 12 shots and seven of 12 free throws and scored 24 points.

“I don’t know if I was surprised,” Self said of the McCray benching. “From my perspective, Dourisseau was really good.”

So was Giddens, who played strong defense to frustrate McCray, who kicked KU’s Lee in the midsection in the first meeting in Lawrence.

“I didn’t do anything to him. I told you I’d come out and exchange words with him,” Giddens joked. “I knew he liked to shoot quick. I just tried to play good defense on him.”

It was good enough to force McCray’s benching.

“I didn’t put him there; I don’t make substitutions for Nebraska,” Giddens said with a smile. “Coach is on me every day at practice to play good defense, to do little things.”

The Jayhawks were to take it easy today — Simien said he’d watch the Super Bowl — and begin preparations for the next game — Wednesday’s 8 p.m. battle at Kansas State.