They call the drill block-out-break, and in its simplest description, the concept is to grab a rebound and get the ball down the floor.
Just go.
It's a regular feature of Kansas basketball practices because, well, it's a regular feature of Kansas basketball games — such a staple that KU spends much of its time anticipating exactly how teams will try to break them out of it.
Except on Tuesday night at Allen Fieldhouse, Kansas State went in the opposite direction.
The Wildcats played fast.
KU played faster.
"If teams wanna play like that," KU wing Christian Braun said, "then we'll score 100."
The Jayhawks were at their very best in a 102-83 win Tuesday because Kansas State allowed them to be at their very best.
Get them out of their comfort zone? They forced them right into it.
K-State whiffed on its best opportunity remaining to bolster a lagging NCAA Tournament resume, and KU reminded the league — and beyond — that when it plays with speed yet control, it will be difficult to beat, no matter the time of year.
The Jayhawks were offered 79 possessions Tuesday — nearly two per minute, its highest rate in a game this season — and turned them into 41 buckets.
"Most teams that we play are probably more opportunistic in transition, and tonight obviously K-State wanted to push the issue," KU coach Bill Self said. "Which I personally think it surprised us, to be honest. It's nice to play a game like that."
Of course it is. This is how KU wants to play every night. The Jayhawks have molded into teams unlike many of their predecessors. Heck, at times they appear the polar opposite of their most immediate predecessor, the one that scored nearly seven points per game fewer.
That one didn't have a true point guard. How could they possibly become so good in transition?
Well, this year's group has done it without its starting point guard, a lingering knee injury continuing to sideline Remy Martin. This isn't the rotation with which Self expected to navigate through the Big 12 schedule. With an altered lineup absent Martin, Self could've opted to alter the philosophy.
Instead, he doubled down.
KU has turned Braun, Ochai Agbaji and even Jalen Wilson, who plays the four, into guards capable not only of bringing the ball up the floor but of pushing it up the floor.
Who needs the point guard to take control of the break each time? At any moment in the game, the block-out-break concept applies to as many as four players.
Self has turned this particular team's identity into something from which even the nation's best opponents will spend energy trying to break them free. Because when you let them get the ball and go, they go.
There's a certain organization to it all. They aren't often persuaded into difficult shots. They sprint the floor, rush to the corners and find the open 3s.
K-State got trapped into the chaos of it all Tuesday. Tried to run right with them. And really, with its own three-point numbers this season and inferior talent, comparatively, why not try to just get hot and pull an upset?
Because it's not easy running with the fastest sprinter in the race. Sure, the Jayhawks shot the ball extraordinarily well Tuesday — 15 of 24 three-points is absurd. But they shot the ball extraordinarily well because they took open looks — created with transition.
With fast breaks.
With pace.
"Obviously we like when teams try to push the pace with us," Braun said. "Because I don't think any team in the country can play as fast as us."
