Mandatory Credit: Rick Bowmer – Associated Press

With their heads down after a tough loss to Michigan State in which the Jayhawks controlled the majority of the game and essentially let MSU take it from them, KU fans were criticizing everything they possibly could and all of a sudden, flashes of recent Kansas teams unable to close out opponents began to create the feeling as though it would be another one of those seasons where the Jayhawks would lose games they shouldn’t.

Self has always preached having a killer mentality and not letting off the gas when you’re up, but for some reason, his teams have often done just that.

Heading to Maui, Kansas would potentially take on some quality opponents in the 2015 field.

In its opener, the Jayhawks scored the most points to every be scored by a team in the tournaments history in a 123-72 victory over host team, Chaminade. The 123 points was the second most in school history, behind a 151-point explosion against Kentucky.

In its next game, KU took on UCLA, a blue-blood program in terms of overal historical significance, but of late, an extremely under achieving program which hasn’t made much national noise since back-to-back Final Four appearances under then-coach Ben Howland in 2006 and 2007.

The Jayhawks jumped out to an early lead, knocking down outside shots with a barrage of three’s and using its quickness to keep UCLA on its heels the entire game.

The Bruins were never able to establish any type of offensive rhythm, against KU, and offensively, the Jayhawks were efficient and shared the ball, which is something Self’s best teams have been known for.

The two easy wins led to a championship game against No. 19 Vanderbilt, a team with a ton of size in the low post and one that would present Kansas with some matchup problems.

The Commodores played Kansas tougher than any other team has thus far through 5 games outside of the final 8 minutes against Michigan State, but the Jayhawks were able to take control of the momentum in the second half, led by Wayne Selden, Jr., who scored 25 points and captured Co-MVP honors with teammate Frank Mason III.

In a matter of days, Kansas went from the ceiling coming down on the season, to winning the Maui Invitational and looking like a team very capable of making a run at the national championship in 2015-16.

In the meantime, Cheick Diallo was finally cleared by the NCAA and the Jayhawks looked to have the weapons to be become a great team.

The only asterisk KU currently is forced to deal with is the status and future of Brannen Greene. Having missed all of Maui and serving out a further three games of a 6-game suspension, Greene is a player with talent, but has let attitude and off-court issues become road blocks in his development up to this point.

Self handing out a suspension of 6 games is essentially like him telling Greene that 6 games is a favor as opposed to being removed from the program all together. At this point, the 6-foot-8 shooter has made a career of stepping on his own foot, which is something Self simply won’t deal with. If one were to look at the overall situation and take into account how severe a punishment he has been handed, it wouldn’t be impossible to think one more slip up would mean the end for Greene in a Kansas uniform.

That being said, all appears to be well in Lawrence, Kan., as the season progresses forward, and the Jayhawks look to be one of the top teams in the country.