Others were available to describe the heroic effort of KU senior Keith Langford, who has been muzzled temporarily for his mild criticism of the officials after the Jayhawks’ victory over Texas A&M on Jan. 5.

“I’m proud of him. He did great. It was absolutely a poised, confident, senior performance, making big plays when we needed them,” said sophomore Nick Bahe, who happens to be Langford’s roommate.

“The thing I think people will overlook … he did a great job of getting the ball in positions where you could easily receive a pass to break the press.”

Langford scored 18 points off 7-of-11 shooting and played sound defense on Curtis Stinson, who missed 14 of 20 shots while scoring 18 points.

Langford also had five assists and six rebounds in 36 minutes just three days after suffering a concussion in KU’s victory at Kentucky.

“Keith is a gamer,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “He didn’t practice Tuesday, they (doctors) wouldn’t let him. He comes out and makes a huge 17-footer to get the game tied. He played really well.”

Langford’s jumper from the right baseline with 7:19 left not only knotted the score at 54, but also halted a 10-0 ISU run. He then tipped in a Wayne Simien miss at 5:31, which concluded an 8-0 KU run that gave the Jayhawks a 60-54 lead. They went on to win, improving to 12-0 overall and 2-0 in the Big 12 Conference.

“The best stretch we played the whole game was when we got behind two,” Self said. “We scored eight straight. One thing about this team, every time we get down late in the game, we’ve had the answer on the next possession.”

All of Langford’s contributions were needed for the Jayhawks to upend a team that had won 25 of its last 26 home games and is always difficult to beat in a place known to opponents as “The Hilton House of Horrors.”

But what Langford couldn’t do was discuss the game afterward.

“Keith is always itching to speak,” Bahe said with a grin. “He’s learned his lesson.”

Freshman Alex Galindo — who had eight points and three steals — swished three of four free throws down the stretch after taking an ill advised three-pointer from the corner with KU up five, a minute remaining and plenty of time left on the shot clock.

“We came out on fire,” Galindo said of the Jayhawks, who, with Wayne Simien in the lineup for the first time in five games, hit 11 of their first 13 shots. “We slowed down and started missing some shots, but we got the win with Dub.”

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ESPN plaudits: Dick Vitale’s midseason awards are out. KU senior Aaron Miles made Vitale’s five-person all-velcro team for top defenders, all-Thomas Edison team (creators at point guard) and all-Rambo team (tough customers). Russell Robinson made the all-stars-of-tomorrow team. Vitale has Wayne Simien as honorary captain of his All-Rolls Royce team.

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‘Nova hurting: Kansas will travel Jan. 22 to Villanova, a team down on its luck. Junior forward Jason Fraser has fractured a bone in his right hand and is out four to six weeks.

6Sports video: Simien, Giddens contribute to Iowa State win 6Sports video: Langford’s rings stolen X-Factor Game 8: Kansas 91, Colorado 70 KU-Colorado game notes (.pdf) Bio: Keith Langford Sign up for cell phone updates Sign up for e-mail updates

Leading scorer Curtis Sumpter has missed the past two games and might miss the KU game because of a sprained knee. Sumpter will be re-evaluated Saturday. The Wildcats (9-2) meet Georgetown on Saturday in Philadelphia, then head to Boston College on Wednesday.

ESPN’s Andy Katz reported that the team had a terrifying emergency landing returning from Providence at 12:15 Wednesday morning. Flying in ice and fog, the team on the 50-seat plane was told to prepare for an emergency crash landing. The plane was able to land safely back in Providence with fire trucks waiting for the passengers. The squad returned via charter later Wednesday.

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Travel plans: The Jayhawks, who will fly charter to Colorado after practice this afternoon, took a charter bus to Ames for the ISU game. The Jayhawks returned around 2 a.m. Thursday with no travel problems. The movie “Dodgeball” was shown on the bus. KU will play Colorado at 3 p.m. Saturday at Coors Events Center.