Kansas coach Bill Self spoke with his players in a Monday afternoon film session about a trend that needs to stop.

“We haven’t been as energized the last two games. We’ve played flat,” Self said of Wednesday’s 64-54 home victory over Texas A&M and Saturday’s 72-64 loss at Iowa State.

“It’s not about playing hard. I’m talking about just being enthusiastic, energetic. When we do that, we’re pretty good. When we are not (energized), we don’t appear to be near as athletic and don’t seem to make plays that players make when games are tight. When you are energized, it covers up for a lot of mistakes. When you are not energized, then execution and discipline — all those things become more a factor. Against Iowa State the last five minutes, we didn’t get stops. The majority of those times it all came with under seven seconds on the shot clock. A guy reaches, a guy loses sight of his man, a guy doesn’t block out. All these things can be avoided if we are a little more in-tune.”

Le'Bryan Nash scored 27 points on 12-of-18 shooting to lead Oklahoma State to a 79-72 victory over Missouri on Wednesday.

“This win is going to do a lot for this team -- especially me,” said Nash, who is averaging just over 11 points while shooting 35 percent from the field. “My confidence has been up and down.

“I haven’t been consistent scoring the ball, and I’ve needed to be more consistent as far as playing hard. That was one of the hardest games I’ve ever played in my life, because I wanted to win. When I play hard, good things will happen for me and this team.”

The 6-7, 230 pound swingman has struggled under high expectations.

“Coming in as the highest-rated recruit in the history of the program, I knew all the hype was going to be about me,” Nash said. “It was just motivation for me. When I don’t play well and people say negative stuff, that just gives me motivation to play even harder, even better.”

The Jawhawks thrive off defensive pressure that leads to easy points.

“This has become a very good defensive spurt team,” Kansas coach Bill Self said.

Kansas has had at least one major defensive burst in each of its last four games.

“I think our energy keys us more than anything else,” Self said. “Before, the common denominator was talent or depth. Here, it’s energy. When we’re turned up, we’re pretty athletic and pay defense so much better.

“You can’t be a spurt team for 40 minutes,” Self said. “And when you play good teams, there aren’t as many spurts because the other teams have good players, too. So whenever you can get a 10-0 or a 12-4 run, that can usually be a difference between winning and losing a game.”

Cyclones forward Royce White’s ballhandling and scoring abilities remind Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford of Jamal Mashburn.

“Maybe he doesn’t shoot it as well as Jamal Mashburn, (but) Royce White’s ball-handling skills are as good as any point guard I have seen in the (Big 12 Conference),” Ford said.

The 6-foot-7, 270-pound White leads Iowa State in points (13.1), rebounds (8.7), assists (3.8), and blocks (1.3).

“He has great vision with the ball, he understands angles, and he understands drawing contact," Ford said. "He makes the people better around him.

“There are a lot of great players who just make themselves good. He makes everybody else around him better.”

Missouri is one of the top jump-shooting teams in the half-court, ranking first in the Big 12 in points per play (1.14) and field goal percentage (41.3 percent).

Though they've excelled on short-and long-range attempts, they've been less efficient on medium-range shots (17 feet to the three-point arc), averaging only 0.70 points per play (7th) and shooting 33 percent (8th).

In their last three games vs Power 6 schools (Oklahoma, Illinois, Villanova), the Tigers are just 3-for-12 (25 percent) on mid-range jumpers and haven’t made more than one such shot in any of those contests.

Elijah Johnson swiped three steals, grabbed eight rebounds, and dished out five assists without a single turnover in a win over Kansas State.

"When he had the ball in his hands, he was 5-and-0 against pressure," said Kansas coach Bill Self. "That's good. Defensive rebounding was excellent. To me, Elijah is a calming influence for our team. So I thought he played pretty well."

Perry Jones has struggled to meet expectations, but at least one NBA general manager believes that’s a result of Jones’ role in Baylor’s offense.

"He's struggled a bit the past few games, but I think it's a function of Baylor's offense.,” one GM said. “He feels the need to get the ball at the top of the key and try to create for himself, in part because his guards just don't give him the ball in a position to score very often."

Jones is averaging 13.1 points on 57.6 percent true shooting.

“In the right system, I think he's a monster,” the exec added. “He's a good kid; he's got a good work ethic; and he's as talented as anyone in the draft. He gets a good team, a good point guard and the right coach, and he could be a superstar."