As far as Bill Self is concerned, ESPN’s GameDay crew is welcome to set up shop in Lawrence any ol’ day.

“Today couldn’t have been scripted much better for Kansas. This did a lot for our program from an exposure standpoint. Playing well was icing on the cake,” Self, Kansas University’s basketball coach, said Saturday night after the Jayhawks capped a day’s worth of free advertising on ESPN and ESPN2 by destroying Texas, 90-65, at Allen Fieldhouse.

ESPN’s Rece Davis, Digger Phelps and Jay Bilas were in town to hold three hourlong shows in the 50-year-old fieldhouse.

The No. 6 Jayhawks (16-1 overall, 6-0 Big 12 Conference) put on quite a show on the actual court in the day’s main event against the 16th-ranked Longhorns (15-5, 2-4).

“The big-time atmosphere helped us. The crowd was great with all the hype behind the game,” said the star of the game, Wayne Simien, who helped his All-America candidacy by scoring a season-high 27 points off 11-of-17 shooting and grabbing six rebounds with three steals in 28 minutes.

“There was unbelievable energy in the building,” noted senior Keith Langford, who contributed 17 points off 7-of-15 shooting with four rebounds and five assists in 29 minutes.

The Jayhawk players weren’t jazzed just because of the sellout crowd and national TV crews in town all day.

KU, it seems, was intent on making up for last year’s two losses to the Longhorns.

“That was part of the game plan we definitely had,” Simien said of earning a blowout victory at home for the first time since Dec. 11, when the Jayhawks pounded Louisiana-Lafayette by 38 points.

Kansas University's Wayne Simien (23) gets hacked while dunking the ball against Texas' Brad Buckman in the second half of the Jayhawks' 90-65 rout of the Longhorns. KU spanked UT on Saturday night at Allen Fieldhouse.

Since then, KU had won by four over South Carolina, two over Georgia Tech, five over Texas A&M and two over Nebraska at Allen.

“We got annihilated by them two times last year in Austin and in the Big 12 tournament. Coach challenged us to come out and attack them in all areas, offensively, defensively and physically. We came out and set the tone early,” Simien said.

Simien opened with 14 points the first half as the Jayhawks, who gained sole possession of first place in the league thanks to Iowa State’s victory over Oklahoma, rolled to a 43-28 lead after 20 minutes. The crowd let out its biggest roar right before the halftime buzzer when Jeff Hawkins hit a three to conclude the first-period scoring.

“I would say we played really well,” Self said. “I think we defended really well (holding UT to 37.3 percent shooting and forcing 20 turnovers) and got the shots we wanted. The big thing for us is that we shared the ball and played with great energy.

“It was a big game for us to have crisp ball movement.”

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Indeed, Aaron Miles had eight assists, while Langford and J.R. Giddens contributed five assists apiece for KU, which had 24 assists, 10 turnovers.

“I am most pleased with J.R. and Keith combining for 10 assists and only one turnovers,” Self said. “That’s the kind of effort we should get from these guys because people are going to pressure out on these guys, and they are going to have to feed the post. Also, Aaron was as good as he has been all year tonight.”

Ditto Simien.

“The guys did a great job getting me the ball,” said Simien, who helped hand UT its worst loss in a Big 12 game in the Rick Barnes era, surpassing by one a 24-point loss at Oklahoma in 2000. “I got in rhythm early and was able to keep it going. I can’t say enough about the guys getting me good looks.”

Sasha Kaun had four points and three boards in 13 minutes, while Michael Lee hit for seven points off 3-of-4 shooting in 16 minutes.

Hawkins had six points, including a spinning layup where he drew a foul and converted a free throw and Christian Moody four points and five boards.

“It’s about time,” Langford said of winning big. “We have had games like Vermont, Nebraska and South Carolina where we’ve played teams to the last few possessions in our own building, and with the kind of fan support we have they deserve a game like this. For the fans that stuck with us and are really behind u, that was for them.”

The Jayhawks will meet Missouri in an early 6 p.m. start Monday at Allen Fieldhouse.