dougs digs

KANSAS 81 - OKLAHOMA STATE 79

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -- If this game does not ultimately decide the Big 12 championship, it should have.

Kansas (No. 7 ESPN/USA Today; No. 8 AP) shot 66 percent from the field, No. 4 Oklahoma State hit 59 percent and both old rivals played almost flawlessly in key stretches Sunday before the Jayhawks finally emerged with an 81-79 victory.

"Certainly, for me, it was an honor to coach in this game," Kansas' Bill Self said. "This will go down as one of the great ones to ever be played in this building."

Wayne Simien had a career-high 32 points and Aaron Miles hit a running layup with 37 seconds to go for the Jayhawks (21-4, 11-3), who have a one-game lead over Oklahoma State (20-5, 10-4) and Oklahoma (No. 23 ESPN/USA Today; No. 22 AP) with two games to play.

Simien had 12 rebounds and was 10-of-11 from the foul line, breaking the school record with 34 consecutive free throws as the Jayhawks snapped their first three-game losing streak in 11 years.

"I think you could make a case that for today at least, there was not a better player in America," Self said.

John Lucas, one of four senior starters for Oklahoma State, hit his first nine shots but he missed a long 3-point attempt seconds before the final buzzer.

"What a great college basketball game," Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton said. "When both teams play like that, it is a shame that one has to lose."