The Big 12 has played some entertaining basketball in front of national-TV audiences this week.

First came Kansas University’s thrilling 80-77, ESPN Big Monday victory over Missouri at Allen Fieldhouse. That win featured the strong play of freshmen Sherron Collins and Darrell Arthur down the stretch.

“It was a great game, a fun game,” KU coach Bill Self said of the Jayhawks’ third conference win in three tries.

It was topped on the excitement scale, however, by Tuesday’s game of the year (thus far): Oklahoma State’s 105-103 triple-overtime decision over Texas at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla.

Like KU-MU, it was part of ESPN’s “Student Spirit Week” barrage of games.

“It was one of the most exciting games I’ve seen,” Self said of the Cowboys’ victory. “It was whoever had the ball last would win the game.”

Self was able to watch the last part of regulation and the overtimes on TV.

“It was a lot of guys making a lot of plays. Of course, Boggan and Curry were unbelievable, as well as Durant.”

He was referring to Oklahoma State senior forward Mario Boggan, who set career highs with 37 points and 20 rebounds, including the winning three-pointer with 3.2 ticks left; OSU junior guard James-On Curry, who had 28 points and nine rebounds; and Texas freshman Kevin Durant, who scored a career-high 37 points with 12 boards.

Some pundits are calling it the best game in the 11-year history of the league.

Here are a handful of KU games since the inception of the Big 12 that might rival Tuesday’s OSU-Texas thriller as far as pure entertainment.

Kansas University's Julian Wright (30) drives the lane against Missouri as teammate Brandon Rush and three defenders look on. KU won Monday's game, 80-77, at Allen Fieldhouse.

¢ KU 110, Texas 103 (OT), Feb. 11, 2002, Austin, Texas: It’s the only game in KU history in which both teams scored 100 or more points.

Drew Gooden scored 28 points while Jeff Boschee hit six threes, including two in overtime. KU was a perfect 5-of-5 from the field in the extra period.

KU went 16-0 in the league that season, wrapping up their perfect run with another thrilling 95-92 win over Missouri on March 3 in Columbia.

¢ KU 90, Texas 87, Jan. 28, 2003, Allen Fieldhouse: Nick Collison’s 24 points and 23 rebounds led No. 12 KU over the No. 3 team in the country.

¢ Missouri 96, KU 94 (2 OTs), Feb. 4, 1997, Columbia, Mo: Corey Tate hit a baseline jumper to end the thriller. Raef LaFrentz, Paul Pierce and Co. lost just one league game all season.

¢ Missouri 89, KU 86 (OT), Jan. 16, 2006, Columbia, Mo.: Thomas Gardner scored 40 points as the Jayhawks saw a seven-point lead disappear in the final 30 seconds of regulation.

¢ KU 59, Oklahoma 58, Feb. 5, 2006, Allen Fieldhouse: It wasn’t an overtime shootout, but plenty exciting as the Jayhawks erased a 16-point second-half deficit. Mario Chalmers drilled the game-winning shot with 20 seconds to play.

Oklahoma State forward Mario Boggan dunks against Texas while teammate Marcus Dove watches. The Cowboys outlasted the Longhorns, 105-103 in triple overtime, on Tuesday.

¢ KU 81, Oklahoma State 79, Feb. 27, 2005, Allen Fieldhouse: Wayne Simien erupted for 32 points and 12 rebounds. Aaron Miles hit the game-winning shot, while Mike Lee played good defense on John Lucas, who missed a possible game-winning three at the buzzer.

“I’ve not been to that many games in the fieldhouse. I can’t imagine there being a lot of games better than that,” Self said at the time.

¢ KU 81, Oklahoma State 79, (OT), Feb. 22, 1999, Allen Fieldhouse: ESPN announcer Doug Gottlieb, a former Cowboy guard, wore his shorts on backwards until he made a switcheroo during a timeout. It wound up being a fabulous game.

¢ Texas Tech 80, KU 79 (2 OTs), Feb. 14, 2005, Lubbock, Texas: Tech’s Darryl Dora hit a game-winning three-pointer just seconds after Aaron Miles was called for traveling with KU up, 79-77. Miles had grabbed a rebound of a Tech miss with 7.9 seconds left and appeared to be hacked. In fact, he showed up for postgame interviews with a black eye. Several Jayhawks said they heard Tech’s coaches screaming for players to foul Miles after he grabbed the carom.

¢

Recruiting: KU is recruiting J’Mison Morgan, a 6-foot-10, 275-pound junior center from freshman Darrell Arthur’s alma mater, Dallas South Oak Cliff High. Morgan is also considering Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M, Nebraska and others.

“J’Mison is a completely different player than Darrell Arthur,” South Cliff coach James Mays told rivals.com. “He’s an old-school center that’s big and takes up a lot of space in the middle. He is averaging about seven or eight blocks a game for us this year. J’Mison is also coming along with his scoring.”

KU signee Tyrel Reed is not playing in this week’s Burlington tournament because of a sprained ankle. He could possibly play this weekend.