Good grief! No Keith

Self: Langford won't play today in Big 12 tournament

Kansas City, Mo. ? Today, for the first time in four full seasons, Kansas University will try to win a basketball game without Keith Langford.

Langford, who has started every game KU has played the past three years and averaged 20 minutes in 37 games as a freshman reserve, has not practiced this week because of a badly bruised left ankle.

He’s been ruled out of today’s Jayhawks’ Big 12 Conference tournament quarterfinal against Kansas State. Tip is 6 p.m. at Kemper Arena, with a live telecast on Sunflower Broadband Channels 4 and 13.

“I do think he’s getting better,” KU coach Bill Self said of the Fort Worth, Texas, native who was injured Sunday at Missouri. Thursday, Langford still had a limp.

“I think he’s responded well to rehab, but he won’t play (today),” Self said. “There’s a chance if we advance he could play. He’s day-to-day, but as of now, no.”

Self said J.R. Giddens, Michael Lee and Aaron Miles would start at the guard slots, with Christian Moody and Wayne Simien playing inside.

“You don’t replace a guy who can just go get you a shot or get to the paint nine out of 10 times when he wants to,” Self said of Langford. “The guys will have to step up just like they did when Wayne was out.”

“I think we’ll rally around the fact we’re playing in a tournament where our goal is to win it. We’re playing for pride in a lot of ways. We didn’t finish the season on the strongest note.”

KU has dropped four of its last six games and has seen its chances for a No. 1 seed in next week’s NCAA Tournament dip dramatically. Most pundits predict KU will land a 2 seed.

Kansas University senior Keith Langford, right, listens for advice from KU coach Bill Self during a game against Oklahoma. Langford, shown Feb. 21 in Norman, Okla., will not play today when the Jayhawks play Kansas State at the Big 12 Conference tournament in Kansas City, Mo.

“There’s still a lot of wiggle room left for seeding (in NCAAs),” Self said, indicating he thinks KU could still land a No. 1 if the Jayhawks win at least two games this weekend while “getting some help” from other teams.

“I think there’s a lot of reasons we’ll play well, the biggest thing is we need to get to playing like we’re capable of playing before the big tournament starts next weekend.”

Self said the Jayhawks (22-5, 12-4) “had a good week of practice,” without Langford.

“Certainly, we’ve practiced hard, but we haven’t killed ’em. We’ve given Aaron and Dub (Simien) a little extra time off. They’ve played a majority of minutes for us this season.”

Self said a challenge this weekend would be to run good offense without Langford.

¢ KU leads the all-time series, 169-88. The Jayhawks have won 30 straight versus the Wildcats.¢ Bill Self is 5-0 versus KSU; Jim Wooldridge 0-10 against KU.¢ KU is 15-5 in the Big 12 tourney with three championships (1997, 98, 99). The current seniors never have won a postseason title. “Something I’ve never done in my career here is win it. It’s one of our goals, also to get momentum heading into the NCAA,” Wayne Simien said.¢ KU is 78-23 all time in Kemper Arena.

“Keith is such a slasher. We have a tendency to stand and watch him go make a play,” Self said. “Hopefully, we’ll have better ball and body movement.”

Tonight’s challenge is to beat Kansas State, a 17-11 squad that KU stopped, 74-65, in Manhattan, and 72-65 on Senior Day in Lawrence. KU has won 30 in a row in the series.

“Kansas State has a lot to play for,” Self said. “They have a chance to beat Kansas, your instate rival. I think it’ll be a competitive, highly contested game.”

The Jayhawks figure to face a zone defense from the Wildcats again tonight.

“K-State will play primarily zone,” Self said. “We were somewhat successful against it the last time we played, 9-22 from three, which really helped. When a team plays zone, you’ve got to make some shots.”