Preach something enough to a group of college basketball players, and sooner or later, it has to sink in with one or two.

For Kansas University men’s basketball coach Bill Self this season, the sermon has centered around being aggressive on the offensive end.

Back-to-back 22-point performances have shown that sophomore guard Mario Chalmers is starting to get it. More specifically, one play brandished it the loudest in Thursday’s 63-43 victory over Detroit.

Titans guard Muhammad Abdur-Rahim hit an awkward three-pointer with the shot clock melting to pull his team within 10 points at the five-minute mark, 50-40. Chalmers’ emphatic response took all of seven seconds.

A long outlet pass reached the explosive leaper with the ball on the left wing and provided a welcome mat to a poster-worthy dunk. He took it for all it was worth, soaring in, spreading his legs in mid-air and throwing home a right-handed exclamation point.

“He’s, as far as an all-around player, he’s as good as we have,” Self said. “Especially offensively. He’s putting himself in the game, putting himself in position to score. Mario is in a groove, where he’s thinking, ‘Catch it to score.'”

While he chose a highlight-reel path of punishment on that play, Chalmers’ long-range jumper again was what made him most effective. After hitting three of six treys in Saturday’s 84-66 victory over Boston College, most of which answered big B.C. hoops, he went 4-of-8 from deep on Thursday.

There’s a reason for the new-found success.

“(I’m) just holding my release longer,” Chalmers said. “I think I was just flicking my wrist too much instead of just holding my follow-through. Once you keep practicing, it’s just going to be there.

“Coach had been working with me the whole Christmas break on that, and it’s starting to work now.”

Outside of scoring, though, it was Chalmers’ second straight solid all-around performance. The lone blemish on Chalmers’ final line was three personal fouls, two of which came early in the second half, forcing him to the bench for a while.

Outside of the three-ball, maybe his greatest contribution was a 4-of-5 showing from the free-throw line on a night when the rest of his team went 7-of-15 at the stripe.

“He’s been big,” sophomore forward Julian Wright said. “Even thought he doesn’t show as much emotion and he’s not sped up, he has really good feel, and that’s becoming a good thing for our team, knowing that he’s just smooth, and before you know it, he has a plus-20 game. He’s being aggressive and smart, and you combine those and you’re going to have a good game.”