St. Louis ? Even with a bad ankle, Kirk Hinrich was a force for top-seeded Kansas.

Hinrich, playing with a brace on the left ankle he sprained two days earlier, scored 15 points as the Jayhawks routed Stanford 86-63 in a second-round Midwest Regional game Saturday night.

Kansas (31-3) used a 15-0 run to open the game against the eighth-seeded Cardinal, and then closed the first half on a 10-0 run, capped by Hinrich’s jumper, to head into the locker room with a 48-26 halftime lead.

After losing to Oklahoma in the Big 12 tournament final last Sunday and struggling to beat 16th-seeded Holy Cross on Thursday, the Jayhawks appeared to regain the rhythm and flow of the three-guard offense that made them the nation’s highest-scoring team with more than 91 points a game.

Their lead over Stanford (20-10), rose to 31 points twice in the waning minutes, the last with 5:09 left when Drew Gooden hit from inside for an 82-51 lead.

Jeff Boschee had 19 points and Nick Collison, who had five points and six turnovers in the ragged 70-59 victory over Holy Cross, rebounded with 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Jayhawks, who will make their second straight trip to the round of 16.

Hinrich, whose status was in doubt until game time, came off the bench with 13:05 left in the first half, bringing a roar from several thousand Kansas fans who feared he might be through for the year.

Less than three minutes later, after Stanford’s Curtis Borchardt shot an air ball, Hinrich pulled up and hit a jumper to make it 23-9.

After Josh Childress hit for Stanford, Hinrich drilled a 3-pointer at the 10:06 mark. Then, with 7:56 left in the half, he hit another long 3 to put the Jayhawks up 31-15.

The 6-foot-3 Hinrich, the Jayhawks’ best defender also spent much of the game guarding Casey Jacobsen, Stanford’s 6-6 swingman who had 24 points.

Gooden, the Jayhawks’ All-America junior forward, had just four points in the first half but finished with 15.

Three minutes into the second half, Gooden stole the ball at midcourt and drove for a big dunk to give Kansas a 58-32 lead. With 13:40 left, Boschee stole a pass and threw the ball to Hinrich streaking down court, who fed Gooden for a layup. The Jayhawks took a 65-37 lead moments later when Hinrich hit another long 3. He was 3-of-4 from 3-point range, and 6-of-9 overall.

Borchardt had 13 points and 11 rebounds, his 17th double-double for Stanford, which never mounted even a mild threat after Kansas hit six of its first eight shots and forced the Pac-10 runners-up into five turnovers in the opening minutes.

The Cardinal did not score until Borchardt dunked with 15:29 left in the half.