And for that, Kansas University’s seniors are mighty thankful.

“One day it’ll end. You never want it to end on your watch,” KU’s Wayne Simien said after collecting 23 points and 13 rebounds in the Jayhawks’ 74-65 victory over Kansas State on Wednesday night in Bramlage Coliseum, KU’s home away from home.

The Jayhawks extended their winning streak in Manhattan to 22 games.

“It’s very satisfying,” fellow senior Keith Langford said after leading the way with 24 points off 8-of-14 shooting, including three of four threes and five of seven free throws.

“Like coach D, coach Dougherty, said last year — he’s at TCU now — ‘Don’t let the streak end on your watch,”’ Langford added of former KU assistant Neil Dougherty. “We kept it going. We play them one more time, on our Senior Night, so I’m pretty sure we’ll be motivated that night.”

On March 2, KU will try to extend its overall win streak over KSU to an even 30 games.

“I mean, I think it’s something moreso for our fans to enjoy and look at,” senior Aaron Miles said after a night in which he scored one point with eight turnovers and six assists in 37 minutes. “The only streak we look at is the conference win streak: It’s nine games.”

KU, which saw a 17-point lead dip to four down the stretch thanks to some inefficient offense, improved to 19-1 overall and 9-0 in the Big 12 Conference.

Jeremiah Massey and Fred Peete each scored 20 for Kansas State (13-7, 3-6).

Langford, Simien and J.R. Giddens (18 points) accounted for 65 of KU’s 74 points and took 40 of KU’s 49 shots.

“I know there’d be a lot of people disappointed in our team if we don’t come here and be successful,” KU coach Bill Self said after his second win at Bramlage in as many tries. “I feel bad for Jim (Wooldridge, KSU coach) in a way. It’s not fair to put it all on him. It’s one of the most unbelievable things in sports. You don’t have these things away from home. It will end, (but) I certainly hope we can extend it.”

This streak was extended thanks in large part to Giddens. His three from the corner after a crisp pass from Simien with 1:44 left upped a 61-56 lead to eight points.

“I thought it was the biggest play of the game,” Self said.

“It’s a play we drew up,” Giddens said. “I missed it the last time we drew it up. We had good execution and screening by my teammates, and I knocked it down.

“I felt in rhythm tonight. Nice night.”

It was a nice night for everybody considering the streak and all.

“I know it was important for the seniors. They didn’t want to be the streak busters,” Giddens said. “I hope we can get a couple more.”

The streak didn’t seem in jeopardy much of the game.

KU led 16-5 early and 35-23 with 1:31 left in the first half after a 9-0 run. It also seemed mighty safe with KU up 54-37 at 13:33.

However, a 17-4 KSU run, fueled by six points from Massey and threes from Lance Harris and Fred Peete, sliced the gap to four at 58-54 at 4:31.

“It was just like last year’s game here. We were up by 22 and ended up hanging on for dear life,” Self said of last year’s 78-70 victory in Manhattan. “Our carelessness led to the funk. It was created by indecision.”

He was miffed by KU’s play in the last few minutes, when the Jayhawks, who hit eight of their last 10 free throws, kept putting KSU on the line. The ‘Cats hit six of eight free throws the final three minutes.

“We went to a zone to quit fouling, and we went seven seconds. We didn’t do a very good job the last two minutes,” Self said.

Still, the Jayhawks bagged another victory heading into Saturday’s 2:30 p.m. home game against Colorado.

“Keith was terrific; Wayne was really good and J.R. was good. On the offensive end, all were terrific,” Self said. “If those three hadn’t come to play, we’d have had no chance.”