The only statistics in basketball that really matter, players and coaches insist, are the number of wins and losses listed next to a team’s name.

But points and rebounds tend to mesmerize the masses, and Kansas University senior forward Wayne Simien nearly put up mind-boggling numbers during Tuesday’s 91-51 rout of Saint Joseph’s at Allen Fieldhouse.

Simien, KU’s 6-foot-9, 255-power forward from Leavenworth, scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds while playing just 23 minutes.

“It was one of those games he could have had 30 and 18 if he plays 30, 35 minutes,” KU coach Bill Self said. “We didn’t need him to do that. You try to protect the guys’ health (with reduced minutes in routs).”

Simien, who played 38 minutes in KU’s season-opening victory over Vermont, didn’t mind sitting the final 121/2 minutes of a 40-point blowout versus Saint Joseph’s.

“It was real nice. Thirty-eight minutes was a beast,” Simien said of the opener, in which he scored 25 points with 10 boards. “Coach talks about cutting the reps down, changing the rotation scheme, get me in and out. When we’re up by 30, 40, it definitely cuts it down. It’s fun to be a cheerleader.”

Simien wasn’t the only Jayhawk to have a crazy stat line Tuesday. J.R. Giddens hit two of two shots in 21 minutes, and Keith Langford one of four in 26 minutes.

“Not many games will Keith and J.R. combine for six shots. That will not happen again this year,” Self said.

“We had balance. We did share the ball.”

The Jayhawks, who will play host to the University of Nevada at 8 p.m. Monday at Allen Fieldhouse, have practiced twice a day the past two days hoping to improve on Tuesday’s outing.

Nevada, of the Western Athletic Conference, is off to a 3-0 start. The Wolf Pack, who beat KU, 75-61, in December in Reno, Nev., stopped Georgia, 58-47, on Friday in Athens, Ga., and have won home games against Georgia State (76-55) and Colorado-Colorado Springs (88-33).

Nevada, coached by former Garden City High standout Mark Fox, is led by bookend forwards Nick Fazekas (6-11) and Kevinn Pinkney (6-10), who average 23.3 and 11.7 points per game.

The Wolf Pack arrived in Lawrence on Saturday night and, after eating dinner, watched Nevada’s nationally televised football game against Boise State.

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Turkey day revisited: KU junior Christian Moody received a nice surprise for Thanksgiving when his mother and little sister made the trip from Asheville, N.C., to Lawrence. The three went to Moody’s girlfriend’s house in Lawrence for dinner.

“It was great. We all did some cooking at her house,” Moody said.

Moody’s dad and two brothers remained in Asheville.

“They went to somebody’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. They couldn’t have made anything on their own without my mom there,” he said.

Darnell Jackson returned to Midwest City, Okla., to dine with his girlfriend and relatives, while Aaron Miles spent the day at Wayne Simien’s parents’ house in Leavenworth.

KU coach Bill Self had relatives in town and played host to players Michael Lee, Alex Galindo, Russell Robinson and C.J. Giles.

“We had a house full,” Self said.

The Jayhawks held two-a-day practices Friday and Saturday. Have they been able to shed all the food from their bellies?

“The coaches haven’t. The players have,” Self joked.