Teams often go through various mental resets over the course of a season, usually at the start of conference play and March Madness. However, Bill Self said Kansas is embracing a 0-0 record before its February 22nd matchup against Oklahoma State, with five games left in the regular season.

The reset follows a two-game skid in Utah, during which the Jayhawks experienced the worst margin of defeat in the Bill Self era against BYU. The regular season overall has been an up-and-down mess, so Self thinks it’s best if his team moves past it.

“That’s my point to our team,” Self said. “It’s like, alright, you wanna hang on to something that we don’t have, try to protect an eight and seven league record? Is that really what this place is all about?”

Self thinks this change in mentality can propel Kansas to playing its best basketball with March quickly approaching.

“I think that’s actually something that resonates with me,” Self said. “Because we finish strong these last five games, we put ourselves into a position to have momentum going into the Big 12 tournament and if we play well, the postseason tournament.”

Self has talked a lot about the mental side of this year’s team, with inconsistent energy being the focal point. He thinks the Jayhawks have a chance to play with fresh minds heading into the last stretch of the regular season.

“I do believe that I like our chances if in fact we can actually have fresh minds and a fresh start,” Self said.

The Jayhawks’ first test of the “new season” will be a home matchup with Oklahoma State. The Cowboys have been largely inconsistent under first-year head coach Steve Lutz, but they come to Lawrence on the heels of a 100-point performance against UCF. Self called Oklahoma State “probably as quick and as athletic and as fast-playing team as we’ve played all year long.”

“I know Steve wants to shoot the ball quick and he wants to pressure and they’re gonna play up the line and they’re gonna force you to make plays,” Self said. “There’s a lot of things that they do very, very, very well.”

Former Jayhawk Bryce Thompson leads the Cowboys with 12.1 points per game. Oklahoma State gets to the free-throw line the best of any Big 12 team with a free-throw rate of 42.5.

“Obviously we need to be turned up and ready to go, but they’ve got a really nice team,” Self said. “They score so many points, Dave, from the free throw line.”