Rumors of the Kansas Jayhawks’ demise proved to be unfounded, much to the dismay of the Stanford Cardinal. Despite an ankle injury to Kirk Hinrich, and a sub-par performance against Holy Cross on Thursday, KU exploded out of the gate and scored the game’s first 15 points.

Freshman Keith Langford got the first start of his college career in place of the injured Hinrich, who entered the game at the 13:05 mark of the first half.

Limping on the court, but otherwise not seeming to be bothered by his injury, Hinrich nailed a basket in the final seconds of the first half to give Kansas a 22-point lead.

The second half was more of the same, as the Jayhawks thoroughly dominated Stanford to earn a trip to the Sweet Sixteen next week. Kansas will face the winner of Sunday’s game between Illinois and Creighton.

KU’s next game is scheduled for Friday, March 22, at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin.

Jeff Boschee led Kansas with 19 points, including five three-pointers. Nick Collison scored 17 points, Hinrich had 15 and Nick Collison also scored 15.

The team is expected to return to Allen Fieldouse tonight at 12:30 a.m.

See tomorrow’s Lawrence Journal-World and KUSports.com, for full coverage of tonight’s game. For full coverage of the NCAA Tournament, go to tourney.kusports.com