Simien -- also known as Big Dub, scored 32 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. AP

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- In the weeks leading up to Sunday's epic battle with No. 4 Oklahoma State, Kansas' season was on the verge of slipping away, mired by chemistry problems and a three-game losing streak.

The plan that saved the Jayhawks, as forward Wayne Simien explained afterward, was ever so simple:

"What coach [Bill Self] said before the game was, 'Get the ball inside, and Dub, go to work.'"

And Dub -- or Big Dub, that's what they call Simien around these parts -- went beyond the expectations of the job, scoring 32 points and grabbing 12 rebounds as the eighth-ranked Jayhawks outlasted the Cowboys in an 81-79 thriller. Simien turned in a career effort in a college basketball classic, putting KU back atop the Big 12 after consecutive losses to Texas Tech, Iowa State and Oklahoma -- and keeping alive the Jayhawks' outside hopes of a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

The game itself -- a masterpiece that saw the lead change seven times in the final 10 minutes and came down to the final possession, in which a John Lucas step-back 3 missed off the front rim -- was a gift to the Gods of Allen Fieldhouse, just two days before the hallowed hall of Midwestern hoops celebrates its 50th birthday. And Simien, the star, found himself at the center of a halfcourt celebration after the gun sounded, his arms raised toward the ceiling as he and his teammates whooped with joy and the building rocked from the ecstatic roar of 16,300 overwhelmingly blue-clad fans.

Sure, KU's breakthrough victory wasn't entirely a product of Self's basic strategy: The Jayhawks' switching defense, which kept Lucas from getting a good look on the Cowboys' final possession, played a role, as did the stellar shooting of guards Aaron Miles and Keith Langford (11-for-15 combined), and the fact KU's overall shooting percentage was an incredible 66.0 compared to OSU's blistering-in-its-own-right 58.5. But this win was precipitated by the coach's message: Feed the post. Feed Big Dub. And everything else will fall into place.

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"[Getting the ball to Wayne] was an emphasis from the jump," Langford said. "Guys were passing up shots to get the ball inside, because nobody could stop him."

Langford was not embellishing: When Kansas won the tip and settled into its halfcourt offense, with Oklahoma State forward Ivan McFarlin alternating between forearming Simien in the back and fronting the KU big man, all of the Jayhawks' eyes were on the battle in the lane. Miles saw daylight -- a mistimed front attempt by McFarlin -- and lobbed the ball to Simien on the left block. The result: a layup, and KU's first lead at 2-0.

The Jayhawks' second possession followed a similar script, albeit with a different accomplice. Guard J.R. Giddens saw Simien seal off McFarlin on the right block, and delivered a low bounce pass, which Dub turned into two points with a right-handed hook off the glass.

Langford, too, chipped in on the put-Dub-to-work campaign with 16:41 left in the first half, feeding Simien on the right elbow with the shot clock ticking down -- and Simien responded by swishing a jumper. It took just three minutes and 19 seconds for Simien to get three shot attempts, but more importantly, it took only three minutes and 19 seconds for all three of his guards to assist him on a bucket.

That post-first mentality wasn't present in KU's previous home game, an agonizing 63-61 loss to Iowa State in overtime. In that stunning defeat, Simien had just seven shot attempts in 41 minutes. On Sunday, he had seven in his 16 minutes of first-half action.

"The last couple of games, we kind of got away from [giving Wayne the ball]," Miles said. "You've got to give him the ball. He does great things down there, which allows open shots for myself, Keith, J.R., and [forward] Christian [Moody] underneath."