Kansas City, Mo ? You can talk about Wayne Simien’s groin and Keith Langford’s thumb and David Padgett’s ankle and Jeff Graves failing Snooze Alarm 101 — again — but all that’s just blah, blah, blah.

When push comes to shove, when nitty comes to gritty and when you put the fist to the gist, Aaron Miles is the truth on Kansas University’s men’s basketball team.

Miles, the Jayhawks’ junior point guard, is a prime number. He is divisible only by himself and by the number 1, which may be why he wears two No. 1s on his jersey. That’s the most 1s, after all, a basketball player can put on his front and back.

“I told him he’s our energy guy,” KU coach Bill Self said. “When he doesn’t play with energy, he’s average. It doesn’t have anything to do with him making shots.”

Miles played with energy squared — maybe even cubed — in Saturday’s 77-67 win over Oregon at Kemper Arena.

Or as teammate Michael Lee said: “Sixteen points, nine rebounds, four assists and zero turnovers … I don’t think you can expect more out of a point guard.”

The nine rebounds were a career-high, but the turnover-less 35 minutes may have been the most impressive stat Miles ever will log.

If you think Portland, Ore., native Miles was energized by playing against one of the major universities in his home state, you’d probably be right. But you would have difficulty making him admit it.

Miles even shrugged off the notion he was motivated by his dismal outing against the Ducks last season in Portland. In that one, Miles was charged with seven turnovers and missed 10 of 11 shots in the Quackers’ 84-78 victory.

Kansas' Aaron Miles -- who finished with 16 points, nine rebounds, four assists and zero turnovers -- lets out a roar in the second half.

“Last year was last year, man,” Miles said. “It was motivational for me for the next game. I think it was Tulsa. After the Tulsa game, it was over.”

That’s not just player-speak, either, according to Lee, who also played with Miles in high school and had mentioned last year’s Oregon game to him last week.

“I brought it up, but he said it didn’t bother him,” Lee said. “He’s always been good at putting things behind him.”

What Miles needs to do more of now is put more things in front of him. Like the basketball. Kansas won Saturday by revisiting an old friend — the fastbreak. Nursing a four-point lead midway through the second half, the Jayhawks suddenly started running. Miles scored on a break off a turnover, then scored again moments later off a missed shot, then he added a pair of free throws after retrieving a missed shot. Meanwhile, the crowd was ballistic.

All of this happened in a little more than two minutes on the clock and was so reminiscent of past Kansas teams that you couldn’t help wonder why the vaunted KU running game of yore mostly has been missing in action this season.

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“It seems like it,” Miles conceded. “But it’s our fault. Coach wants us to run, and we need to do it.”

Outlet passes off defensive boards lead to many run situations, but the Jayhawks have not been a dominant board team against quality foes this season. Saturday, for example, the Ducks owned a 43-41 edge in caroms.

Not that there weren’t plenty of opportunities for one team to gain an upper hand on the boards. During an 18-minute delay when the lights above the floor suddenly went out just before the second half was about to start, somebody quipped: “The Jayhawks and Ducks didn’t do it. Neither team shot lights out.”

Notably, Oregon made only six of 29 three-point attempts — a chill factor that enabled Miles, in part, to establish his career high in boards.

“When a team misses 23 threes, a guard’s got to clean that up,” Miles said.

Miles cleaned up Saturday. Arguably, he played his best game to date. Earlier, Miles had sparkled in the Jayhawks’ 81-74 triumph over Michigan State in Allen Fieldhouse. He had 17 points and six assists in that one, but those numbers were tempered by a glaring six turnovers.

Still, no one can argue that Miles’ two best games this season have been against Oregon and Michigan State. In both outings, he lit a fire under the Jayhawks when they were running on fumes.

You hate to categorize a player as indispensable. So often when a player goes down, somebody steps up to replace him. That’s probably what would happen if the Jayhawks didn’t have Miles, for whatever reason. But I’m not so sure.