Manhattan ? The Streak was in serious jeopardy Saturday afternoon at Bramlage Coliseum.

“Yeah, I was worried,” said senior forward Nick Collison, Kansas University’s national basketball player-of-the-year-award candidate who headed to the bench with his fourth foul early in the second half of the Jayhawks’ meeting Saturday with Kansas State. “We were not playing real well when I went out.”

Indeed, KU trailed by a basket when Collison came out, but the Jayhawks used a smaller lineup and defeated Kansas State, 82-64, assuring Kansas’ 20th straight victory in the Little Apple.

KU was down two when Collison sat with 14:13 left, but the No. 12 Jayhawks went on a 35-13 run during Collison’s 11 1/2-minute absence and by his return at 2:45 had built an insurmountable 80-60 lead.

“It did bother me, to say the least, when Nick got his fourth foul,” KU coach Roy Williams said after improving to 15-0 all-time at Bramlage. “It’s not good to see him next to me, to say the least, but this is a basketball team.”

The Jayhawks (17-5 overall, 7-1 Big 12 Conference) responded well without their All-America candidate — guards Kirk Hinrich, Aaron Miles and Keith Langford scored 11, nine and seven points in the surge.

Michael Lee, who capped the run with a three-pointer, and Bryant Nash, who had six rebounds, were the other two Jayhawks on the floor during most of that run.

Power forward Jeff Graves, who finished with three fouls, eight points and 10 rebounds, gave the tired signal after committing a turnover with 6 1/2 minutes left and played sparingly the rest of the way.

“It was a great game to watch. It was a fun game to watch,” said Collison, who finished with 10 points in 26 minutes. “Just the way those guys were playing, it was fun to watch.”

The Jayhawks were buried by seven Wildcat threes the first half and lagged, 36-35, at the break.

KU trailed Kansas State, 51-47, at 13:14 — a minute after Collison headed to the bench after committing a foul while trying to grab a defensive rebound.

Kansas State's Matt Siebrandt shoots over Nick Collison in the second half.

Sophomore point guard Miles, who bounced back nicely from his two-point effort against Missouri by scoring 13 points against KSU, cashed a corner shot and went coast to coast for a layup, tying the game at 51.

Miles and Hinrich scored six apiece in a 14-2 run that opened a 61-53 KU lead with 8:30 left. The 6-foot-3 Hinrich was amazing, scoring 28 points off 11-of-16 shooting.

“Kirk was sensational. It’s amazing one guy can give so much strength to everybody else,” Williams said.

“He’s an All-American. That’s what All-Americans do,” Miles said.

Hinrich credited KU’s defense for the late-game surge that finally subdued the Wildcats (11-10, 2-6). Miles had three of KU’s seven second-half steals as the Jayhawks forced 15 turnovers — nine in the second half.

“We were great defensively the second half,” Hinrich said after the Jayhawks held KSU to 1-of-5 three-point shooting the second 20 minutes.

K-State hit seven of 13 threes in the first half, mostly against KU’s point-zone defense used to prevent Miles, Graves and Collison for picking up their third fouls before the break.

“Anytime you go on the road in the Big 12 it’s really fun to win,” Hinrich said after improving to 10-0 lifetime versus KSU. ”The streak is unbelievable. It’s up to these guys to keep it going in the future.”

Returning Jayhawks like Lee (three points, 12 minutes) and Nash (six rebounds, 24 minutes) did their share in helping KU win its 26th straight game overall versus the WIldcats.

A late 15-0 surge with no KU player on the floor taller than Nash (6-foot-6) helped wear out the Wildcats.

“It was awesome, man,” said Nash, who was playing with a slight fracture in his right shooting thumb that might require surgery after the season. “With Nick out, it was a matter of us stepping up with others on the bench. I knew we could do it.”

KSU’s Gilson DeJesus, who made three three-pointers and scored 11 points in the first half, missed his only two shots of the final half. Tim Ellis, who had four threes and nine points the first half, finished with 14 to lead all Wildcat scorers.

“It was one of our best halves of defense all year,” Langford said after scoring 18 points, including seven straight in the second half. “We got in transition with me and Kirk getting easy buckets. It took gas out of them. When you look up and see a guy breathing hard and you are feeling fine, it makes you feel good.”

The Jayhawks felt good knowing they earned their 20th straight victory in Manhattan — and sixth straight double-digit win at Bramlage — with Collison playing the role of lead cheerleader during crunch time.

“Obviously we want him in there. He’s an All-American,” Langford said. “But if Nick can go out of the game and we can outscore a team by 20 points, it says a lot about our team. It can only help us prepare us for March.”

The Jayhawks will meet Baylor at 8 p.m. Tuesday in Waco, Texas.