Self on the mid-season rut, and a glimpse into Diallo's mind

KU coach Self on Tuesday night’s Hawk Talk was asked if the Jayhawks’ trip to South Korea for the World University Games might have taken something out of the squad during its stretch of three losses in five games that preceded the current win streak.

“I can’t speak to the exact reason. I will say we have talked about that,” Self said. “I think there’s a great chance that contributed to us hitting a wall. I don’t know if we hit a wall, but we hit a hill. We didn’t explode up the hill or move up the hill with probably the same intensity we had before hitting the hill. All teams will go through it. Hopefully we got ours out of the way and we’ll push forward playing our best ball and most energetic ball moving forward,” added Self, who said he plans on cutting the time of each practice to keep legs fresh.

Diallo said he’s confident the (22-4, 10-3) Jayhawks, who have won six straight games, will continue their hot streak.

“We lost a couple games at the beginning of the season. We’re going to do better. My opinion ... I think we’re not going to lose no more games,” Diallo said with a smile. “I think we can win no matter what.”

He said he’s continued his habit of texting his coach, Bill Self, every night.

“I do, every time,” Diallo said. “Basically I ask what I need to do most now, because I’m trying to develop my game every day. Even days off, I just come to the gym to work on things. I work every day.”