St. Louis ? When their college basketball careers are over, Wayne Simien, Keith Langford and Aaron Miles will go down in Kansas University’s storied history as among the best at what they do.

Few KU big men have possessed Simien’s shooting and rebounding skills. Not many KU players have ever been able to manufacture shots like Langford. And when it comes to pure point-guard ability, Miles is up there with Jacque Vaughn, Cedric Hunter and Darnell Valentine.

Unfortunately, the NCAA Tournament isn’t a three-on-three contest.

Sunday’s heart-breaking, 79-71 overtime loss to Georgia Tech at the Edward Jones Dome was a case study of just how overly dependent the Jayhawks are on those three players.

During the regular season, the Jayhawks could win when one or two of those three standouts were off their game, but Georgia Tech proved Kansas can’t win when all three are neutralized or below par.

In retrospect, if Kansas could have taken control early — and the opportunities were plentiful — the Jayhawks could have dictated the tempo. As it was, though, KU missed 16 of its first 18 shots. Sure, the Jayhawks made several runs, but they were all come-from-behind runs.

Simien and Langford, who combined for an average of 33.5 points a game this season — about 44 percent of KU’s 76.0 per-game scoring average — were 0-for-10 from the field in the first half.

Meanwhile, Miles met his match and then some in Georgia Tech point guard Jarrett Jack. But some of Miles’ woes had to be fatigue. Miles sat for only two minutes, while Jack had seven minutes of rest.

KU coach Bill Self would have loved to put someone else on Jack and give Miles a break, but who? Self didn’t have a back-up point guard he could depend on. And so Miles had to go almost the route every night, as he did Sunday.

Kansas University's Aaron Miles, right, scraps for a steal against Georgia Tech's Jarrett Jack in the second half of the Yellow Jackets' 79-71 overtime victory. Tech outscored KU 13-5 in OT Sunday in St. Louis to advance to the Final Four.

Same with Simien and Langford. Self needed them for their scoring ability, so he left them out there as long as he could even though both had nagging injuries — Simien (groin), Langford (knee) — that will shut them down after the season.

Check the stats and you’ll see Simien and Langford were rarely on top of their games on short rest. Sunday’s defeat only punctuated that unavoidable fact.

Simien played 43 minutes Sunday, but was invisible for long stretches. For example, he was on the floor during the entire second half and the overtime, yet didn’t score a single point during the last 15 minutes.

Tech’s defense deserves credit. The Jackets’ Luke Schenscher is listed at 7-foot-1, and he had a wider wingspan than the Great Barrier Reef in his native Australia.

“Schenscher bothered us,” Self said. “He’s much longer than you realize.”

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Still, it was obvious Simien wasn’t playing full bore down the stretch, but Simien even at half-speed is better than Self’s other options.

“I got a little tired in overtime,” Simien said, “but it’s a big-time game, and I felt I had enough in me to stay out there and fight.”

Simien was like a battered heavyweight battling on sheer guts determined to make the fight go to a judges’ decision instead of throwing in the towel.

To Langford’s credit, he battled, too. In fact, he seemed to catch his second wind or perhaps a dose of adrenaline late when he started taking the ball to the basket. Then Langford fouled out on a suspicious call with 3:44 left in overtime, and the handwriting was probably on the wall.

Miles, no doubt as gassed as Simien, was shaky in the overtime and finished with an uncharacteristic five turnovers — although the last was as suspicious as the fifth foul on Langford. Miles appeared to have been knocked down by a defender trying to slip past a screen, and official Tom Lopes called him for traveling.

Later, Langford had unkind words for the officiating, but I’ve never seen a basketball game decided by the officials. Over the course of a long game, the players always decide the outcome.

Kansas lost this one because the Jayhawks couldn’t hit a lick when they could have taken charge and forced Tech, a team that depends on defense for its offense, into a catch-up situation. Kansas lost, too, because its three best players ultimately had to play too many minutes.

The good news is Simien, Langford and Miles will be back next season. The bad news is the same scenario is likely to play out in next year’s NCAA Tournament if the Big Three have to shoulder too much of the load again.