“I have nothing left. Nobody on our team has anything left. I’m totally exhausted,” KU senior Kenny Gregory said after scoring 16 points and playing aggressive defense on forward D.J. Harrison, who scored just three of his game-high 26 points the final 14 minutes.

“I’m beat. I feel like every muscle in my body is going to cramp,” KU junior guard Jeff Boschee said after scoring a season-high 21 points off a season-best five three-pointers.

Boschee also fed Kirk Hinrich with a picture-perfect pass in the corner, the wide-open point guard drilling a three that busted a 71-71 tie and gave the Jayhawks the lead for good with 4:54 left.

Hinrich followed that three with a driving layup, scoring five points in a 12-0 run that put the game away, 81-71, with 36 seconds remaining.

“That’s a bigger win than a blowout,” Hinrich said after the Jayhawks claimed their 23rd consecutive victory over Colorado and 10th in a row at the Events Center. “We showed some toughness, some heart. We didn’t give up. It was a great win for us.”

Colorado built its game-high lead of seven points (62-55) during the most heated stretch of the game.

A 15-9 CU run started on the most emotional of plays. CU led, 47-46, with 16:40 left when point guard Jose Winston plucked a steal and raced in for a layup.

KU soph Nick Collison went for the ball, but hammered Winston hard with his shoulder, knocking the tiny player to the floor.

Winston didn’t get up after whacking his head on the floor, and Collison ran to assist the guard.

CU forward Harrison got in Collison’s face and words were exchanged.

“A man can’t walk up to a player when he’s knocked out on the ground and talk trash. We won’t stand for that,” Harrison said.

That’s not what Collison was doing, however. He went to assist Winston, and the two later slapped hands and chatted after the game about the play.

“Their guy came down and I tried to go for the ball,” Collison explained. “There have been times this year I’ve fouled guys and didn’t foul ’em hard enough and they still made the layup.

“My momentum went into him. My shoulder went into him and he went flying. I don’t regret what I did.

“I think their players understood. He understood what I was trying to do. I talked to him and he said he understood.

“In the heat of the moment some things are said and I guess that’s what happened,” Collison added after his 15-point, eight-rebound effort.

KU coach Roy Williams and CU coach Ricardo Patton had words when Williams walked down to talk to Patton, who was incensed after the hard foul.

“The foul I thought was very cheap and flagrant,” Patton said, not commenting on the exchange with KU coach Williams.

“Things were said in the heat of the battle. What we said probably should stay on the court,” Williams said.

Amazingly, Williams did not see the foul.

“I knew the ball came flying out so I figured he (Collison) hit the ball,” Williams said. “I felt badly for Jose. Nick Collison is not a dirty player. He has never been a dirty player. The official told me it was a hard foul. I told Ricardo I’d look at it and if an apology is needed we’ll have one.”

No apologies are going to be needed, replays showing Collison indeed went for the basketball.

“It was a tough game, a physical game,” Gregory said. “This is not high school basketball. It’s college basketball and it’s a physical game.”

Patton said Winston, who did return to the game, has a concussion as a result of the contact.

Justin Harbert stepped in and hit two free throws for Winston.

Richard Fox scored on the ensuing possession. Harrison completed the 15-9 surge with a pair of deep three-pointers, the last coming at 13:47. Gregory and Luke Axtell defended Harrison almost flawlessly after that.

“He is a good player. We were giving him good looks. We weren’t getting up on him like we should have,” Gregory said. “Me and Luke clamped down on him late. He wasn’t as active as he was or celebrating like he was earlier.

“You didn’t see much out of him (late). I don’t know if he was tired or what.”

The Buffs appeared dead tired late, missing 10 straight shots during KU’s late 12-0 run.

Hinrich was not tired, but energized after accepting the pass from Boschee and drilling what turned out to be the game winning three.

“They were sagging down the whole game. Jeff got the ball, they came out on him and he found me. I was able to knock it down,” Hinrich said simply.

“Mohr (Nick, 12 points) was pressuring me a bit. I got in the lane and saw Kirk wide open in the corner of my eye. I had a pretty good feeling he’d knock it in. Kirk had his feet set. When he gets his feet set, it usually goes in,” Boschee noted.

KU coach Williams gave thumbs up to the emotional victory, KU’s 16th against one loss and fifth against no losses in league play. CU fell to 12-7, 2-4.

“I told our kids we’d not been behind much this year at halftime (KU trailed by three points at half Monday, just the third time all year KU lagged at the break), not been behind much in the second half.

“I said, ‘Let’s see how tough we are.’ Down the stretch we held them scoreless six or seven possessions.”

Also, KU hit 52.8 percent of its shots the all-important second half to CU’s 31.3 percent.

“It was a hard fought game, a great college atmosphere,” KU’s coach assessed.

The Jayhawks return home to play Kansas State on Saturday in an 3:05 p.m. tipoff.

“We have tomorrow off and I’m glad,” Gregory said. “I’m going to relax in the apartment after this one. I’m tired.”