There was no official, “Win one for the team of ’52” battle cry in Kansas’ basketball locker room before Saturday’s 100-73 pounding of Colorado.

But coach Roy Williams did mention KU’s NCAA title team to his troops during his pregame talk at Allen Fieldhouse.

“I wanted us to play well so those guys would be proud of our team,” Williams said of the 12 members of the 1952 KU team who were honored in a halftime ceremony.

“I did say one thing in the locker room. It really made me proud to read comments in the paper of guys back for the game, some live here in town. They talked about how this team reminds them of how they played, how hard and unselfish they were and how they tried to guard you.

“I told the guys I hope they’d be flattered by that, they should remember that and let’s do play and make sure they continue to be proud of us.”

One member of the 1952 team is Dean Smith, Williams’ mentor at North Carolina. Williams had his Jayhawks pose with Smith for a team photo after Friday’s practice.

Williams and Smith watched the second half of North Carolina’s loss to Georgia Tech on TV right before the KU-CU contest.

“He enjoys coming back. It’s a thrill for him and a thrill for us to say the least,” Williams said.

It was suggested Smith likes the fact the ’52 players do not act as if they “revere” Smith, who gets treated like a dignitary at all times back in Chapel Hill, N.C.

“The fact is they do revere him and have the greatest deal of respect for him,” Williams said of Smith’s KU teammates. “They don’t let him know that. I think he likes that. They talk about what happened 50 years ago. A lot of things they talk about happening 50 years ago that’s not exactly how it was.”

The men recognized were: players Jerry Alberts, B.H. Born, Everett Dye, Bill Heitholt, Charlie Hoag, Bill Hougland, Al Kelley, Bob Kenney, Bill Lienhard, Clyde Lovellette and Dean Smith, and team manager Wayne Louderback.

Balance: KU’s Drew Gooden, Nick Collison and Jeff Boschee each scored 20 points. It’s the first time three KU players scored 20 in a single game since Milt Newton, Mark Randall and Kevin Pritchard did so in 1988 versus Temple.

“Kirk had 16 points,” Gooden said of Hinrich. “He hits two more layups and we’ve got four guys with 20 points. That’s pretty amazing.”

Late spurt: Williams was not pleased the Buffs closed the game on a 15-0 run against KU’s reserves.

“The guys who were in at the end are not enjoying it now. I ripped ’em a little bit at the end of the game there,” Williams said. “Everybody that puts on a Kansas uniform is supposed to go out and do your best. We didn’t do it at the end. Take that away I’m very pleased.”

“He was upset,” KU’s Brett Ballard said of Williams. “We didn’t play well at all. He said we’ve got to be ready to go when we get in the game.”

Hard fouls: Hinrich was hammered early by David Harrison. No intentional foul was called.

“I didn’t really feel anything,” Hinrich said simply, shrugging off the contact.

Later, D.J. Harrison hammered Aaron Miles on a late layup try. Neither Hinrich nor Miles was injured on the plays.

See ya: D.J. Harrison left the court without shaking hands with the Jayhawks for the second time this year. Younger brother David did hang around long enough for the postgame pleasantries.

Stats, facts: KU is 19-2 for the first time since the 1997-98 season and 8-0 in the league for the first time since 1996-97. KU has won 26 straight over the Buffs and 19 straight in Lawrence. Williams is 31-1 versus CU, Ricardo Patton 0-15 versus KU. Jeff Carey had a season-high five rebounds and had a career-best four steals. KU scored 100 points for the sixth time this season. KU’s 81 shots were third most in the Williams era in a conference game and seventh most overall in a game under Williams. KU had a season-low 13 turnovers. KU has 205 points combined in the last two games, which ranks fourth in the Williams era for consecutive conference games and 24th for any two consecutive games in the Williams era. James Wright had 11 turnovers, tying for second for an opponent in the Williams era.