Kansas University point guard Aaron Miles screamed at Missouri’s Jason Conley for hard-fouling one of his teammates.

He barked at one of his own teammates — freshman David Padgett — for not chasing down a rebound.

And Miles even yelled at himself, challenging himself to shrug off a painful ankle sprain and return to the floor just 3 1/2 minutes after heading to the locker room for treatment in the second half of Monday’s 65-56 victory over Missouri at Allen Fieldhouse.

One might say the emotional Miles — who had 11 points, eight assists, three rebounds and two steals — personified the Jayhawks’ intense victory over their rivals, which came just two days after a disappointing loss at Iowa State.

“We just played our butts off. We played well,” said Miles, who hit four free throws in four tries — as did Wayne Simien — in the final five minutes as KU turned a 53-52 lead into a nine-point victory.

Miles also fed Simien for a lob dunk that completed a 8-2 run, giving the Jayhawks (14-4 overall, 6-1 Big 12 Conference) a 61-54 lead at 3:26.

“We beat a very talented Missouri (9-9, 4-4) team. We beat a rival because we competed and played hard,” Miles said.

Nobody played harder than Miles, who sprained his right ankle — the same ankle he turned before a win over Kansas State Jan. 14 — after hitting a driving layup just 48 seconds into the second half.

After heading to the locker room, he returned to thunderous applause and re-entered the game.

Kansas University's Aaron Miles -- who overcame a second-half ankle injury to finish with 11 points and eight assists -- glides past Missouri's Travon Bryant. Miles helped KU clip the Tigers, 65-56, Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse.

“I mean, I don’t feel like a hero. Anybody would have done that,” Miles said. “I’m not sitting out that one for anything.”

KU coach Bill Self knew Miles would be back when he learned the guard had suffered just a sprain, not a break.

“He’ll be sore, but no way he was going to stay out,” Self said. “We don’t look quite as good when Aaron is not in the game.”

Miles came to the defense of Keith Langford, barking at MU’s Conley in the first half after Conley was whistled for a physical, offensive foul on Langford.

Langford’s was mostly responsible for Rickey Paulding’s off night, Paulding finished with 14 points off 5-of-10 shooting.

“Any time you’ve got two competitive teams, there always will be a little talking going on,” Miles said.

He yelled at freshman forward Padgett with four minutes left in the first half, after Missouri had scored its sixth bucket off an offensive rebound, cutting the gap to 25-24.

“A big problem we’ve been having all year is rebounding. I jumped David. He’s tough. He responded. He got the next four rebounds,” Miles said.

Langford was amazed at Miles’ effort.

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“A lot of people say he’s not a 40 percent three-point shooter, and he’s not this and that. The heck with percentages. It’s what you do for the team,” Langford said. “The Internet geeks can talk about his free-throw percentage or assist-to-turnover ratio or whatever. When he’s in the game, we’re better.”

KU coach Self was pleased his team won a game in which the lead changed 17 times.

And he’s happy the Jayhawks finished this one in a strong fashion. KU led by just a point with 5:50 left, upping the lead to 57-52 at 5:08 following two free throws by Simien and two by Miles.

After MU cut it to 61-56 at 1:14, again Miles hit two free throws, followed by two from Simien to give KU a 65-56 advantage.

And he’s thrilled KU held MU to 35.9 percent shooting, including 3-for-18 shooting behind the three-point line.

“It was a great game with a great basketball atmosphere,” Self said. “Our defense was excellent. We didn’t get a chance to get out and run much. In games like this there are not going to be many easy baskets. Certainly after the first 10 minutes there weren’t many easy baskets, and guys had to earn everything. You take away their early offensive rebounds when I thought they beat us to most of the loose balls … I think we did a good job in all areas defensively.”

Kansas University's Aaron Miles celebrates after KU's 65-56 win over the Missouri Tigers. Miles twisted his ankle after a second-half layup Monday at Allen Fieldhouse but was able to finish the game after a brief rest in the locker room. The junior point guard finished with 11 points, eight assists and three rebounds.

He felt Miles, Simien (18 points, four boards) and Langford led the way.

“Aaron gave everything he had after turning his ankle,” the coach said. “Keith sacrificed points when he was dog-tired to make sure he chased Paulding around and did a great job on him. It was good for Dub (Simien) to not get frustrated after playing nine minutes the first half and coming out with 16 points the final half. We had guys step up at the line when it counted. That was huge and put the game away.”

KU will play host to Texas Tech Saturday. Tipoff is 3 p.m.