Who was that masked man?

It was Keith Langford — for about four minutes.

Kansas University’s sophomore guard was supposed to wear a plastic mask to protect his nose, which was broken in practice on Dec. 27 and set Tuesday. Langford, however, only practiced with the mask twice before Saturday’s 92-59 Big 12 Conference basketball victory over Nebraska at Allen Fieldhouse, and he wasn’t thrilled with the results.

The Fort Worth, Texas, product had one foul, no rebounds and didn’t take a shot in the game’s first 3 minutes, 56 seconds.

“I’ll never wear it in a game again,” he said. “The mask was uncomfortable. I was having to worry too much about it and couldn’t focus on the game. I’ll wear it in practice because that’s where a lot of injuries occur.”

Langford wasn’t the only Jayhawk who struggled early against the Cornhuskers. With the game tied at 5, coach Roy Williams pulled all five of his starters with 16:04 left in the first half.

“After we came out in the first half, I took it off and threw it on the sideline,” Langford said.

When Williams put his starters back in two minutes later, the mask was nowhere in sight.

“If I’d have wanted him to put it back on, I’d have told him to put it back on,” Williams said. “It’s his nose.”

More on that later.

Langford finished the first half with four points and two rebounds. The 14th-ranked Jayhawks (10-3 overall, 2-0 Big 12) managed to claim a 40-28 halftime lead against NU (8-6, 0-1).

After Nebraska forward Andrew Drevo scored the first basket of the second half, Langford sparked the Jayhawks by scoring six of the first 10 points in an 18-0 run.

“I tried to be a little more assertive,” said Langford, who finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and zero turnovers in 30 minutes.

The Jayhawks needed to be more assertive on the backboard while playing without injured starting forward Wayne Simien and backup forward Moulaye Niang, who returned to Senegal for his father’s funeral. Reserve guard Micahel Lee was forced into action at power forward when starting forward Jeff Graves was saddled with foul trouble.

The 6-foot-4 Langford had a season-best six offensive rebounds and kept 6-5 Nebraska guard Corey Simms off the glass in the second half.

Langford also finished 8-of-14 from the field and hit both of his three-point shots. He scored in double figures for the 11th straight game and the 13th time in 14 games this season.

Now if Williams could just convince Langford what’s best for the sophomore’s nose.

The coach didn’t object when Langford took his mask off Saturday, but Williams expects the guard to wear it in the future.

“He has to wear it,” Williams said. “He has no choice. Hopefully, he’ll feel more comfortable because the doctors think he’s better off keeping it on.”

Langford wasn’t convinced.

“I’m not going to wear it again,” he said. “That’s the bottom line.”

He softened his stance later.

“I only wore it two days before we got a chance to play,” he said. “Maybe when I wear it a lot more in practice I’ll get used to it, but at this point it’s a no-go.”

Williams isn’t the only authority figures who wants Langford to protect his nose.

“My mom was real adamant in trying to make me wear it,” Langford said, “but she’s in Fort Worth and I’m in Kansas.”