You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make the nag drink. You cannot squeeze blood out of a turnip. And you sure as heck can’t make the Sphinx talk.

Aaron Miles doesn’t quite fit those degrees of difficulty, yet Miles comes close when he is hoisted on a pedestal and expected to use personal pronouns.

Now in his fourth and last year as Kansas University’s point guard, Miles has produced a handful of memorable statistics.

For instance, when he was a freshman, Miles was credited with 15 assists in a game against Texas Tech. Also, he had nine steals against Iowa State during his sophomore year.

Yet for overall excellence, based on his numbers up and down the stat line in the box score following Saturday’s 81-70 victory over Pacific in Allen Fieldhouse, Miles gave a clinic on how to play point guard.

“That’s as good as Aaron has played since we’ve had him,” KU coach Bill Self said.

As far as I’m concerned, Miles was as good in all aspects as he ever has been, and that includes his two seasons under Roy Williams when the Jayhawks went to the NCAA Final Four each time.

Saturday, Miles scored 19 points — one below his career high — earned eight assists, stole the ball six times and was saddled with just two turnovers. Oh, and he threw in three rebounds for good measure.

Granted, those aren’t numbers destined to be bronzed or etched in stone, but how close to perfect can a player be while he’s on the floor for 33 minutes?

KU senior point guard Aaron Miles (11) slips in behind Pacific's Christian Maraker for a basket. Miles was 6-for-8 -- and 3-for-3 from three-point range -- in KU's victory over UOP.

“He tried to get too cute one time getting the ball to Wayne (Simien),” Self said, “and he shot an off-balance layup. Other than that, he didn’t make any mistakes.”

That off-balance layup was one of only two misfires in eight shot attempts. Miles, a career 40-percent shooter, was 6-of-8 from the field, making all three (gasp) of his three-point attempts.

Is he pronating more instead of supinating? Does the basket look as big as the Grand Canyon when he shoots? Did he eat an extra bowl of Wheaties?

Nope. If you’re looking for some special reason, you came to the wrong guy.

“It’s just going in,” Miles said. “You make some. You miss some. You just have to keep shooting.”

6Sports video: KU knocks off Pacific Hear Bill, players: Pacific postgame comments Photo Gallery: KU vs. Pacific Get the stats: KU vs. Pacific box score Scorecard: Grade KU’s performance against Pacific Other Big 12 scores Other NCAA scores Langford breaks out of slump Woodling: Miles puts on clinic UOP, Maraker hang with KU Notebook

Well, they say shooters have to keep shooting, yet Miles has never been known as a shooter.

Maybe the X-factor is Dec. 4. Miles scored his career high of 20 points against Central Missouri State on that date two years ago and 19 against Pacific on Saturday. KU didn’t play on Dec. 4 last year.

Naw, the date has to be merely a coincidence.

When push comes to shove, Job One for Miles is to pile up assists and eschew turnovers. The other night against Nevada, Miles scored only eight points, but his assist-to-turnover ratio was a stunning 10-to-zip.

So in his last two outings, Miles has racked up 18 assists and just two turnovers.

“His 10-0 was impressive,” teammate Simien said. “Today was more magnified because he scored, and people aren’t used to seeing that.”

Or as freshman Russell Robinson, Miles’ caddy, said about the veteran point guard’s shooting: “Him going 3-for-3 from the three-point line shocked me.”

Miles’ perfect day from beyond the arc boosted his career three-point percentage over .300 for the first time. He’s now at 30.08 percent.

That brings us to Miles’ reaction to his tour-de-force performance.

“I did some pretty good things,” he said, “but the most important stat is we got the victory. That’s how I feel about it.”

Another question from the media along the same lines brought this response: “I just try to do whatever it takes to help the team win.”

On his way to becoming the least spectacular but most efficient point guard in Kansas University’s storied basketball history, Miles always has been overshadowed and under-appreciated.

Saturday he shook his good-field, no-hit label. How many times he shakes it again could determine how long his senior season lasts.