In this stat-crazed day and age, here are some obscure numbers to crunch concerning Kansas University’s men’s basketball team.

The Jayhawks, who will take an 11-6 record into Wednesday’s 7 p.m. battle at Texas A&M, are :

¢ 10-3 when leading at halftime.

¢ 8-3 when outrebounding their opponents.

¢ 11-5 when outshooting their foes.

¢ 10-3 when their bench outscores the opposition’s bench

And, oh, yes :

¢ 8-2 since a treadmill was brought to Allen Fieldhouse and Horejsi Center as a motivational tool at daily practice sessions.

“I definitely think the treadmill has increased the awareness of how tough the punishment is going to be if you mess up or don’t do the little things right,” senior Christian Moody said, giving the machine some credit for KU’s success.

The Jayhawks, since opening the season with three victories against four losses, have been ordered to climb aboard the treadmill and run, run, run when committing any of many possible errors at practice.

“For me,” Moody said, “I’ve had to get on it for turning down shots, missing a box-out. Coach (Bill Self) will get you for anything depending on what his emphasis is for the day. The first week we had it for the California game, coach was making a point how tough it was.

“Everybody got on it five or six times the first week. We’ve been doing pretty well since.”

The treadmill received a lot of use following consecutive losses to Kansas State and Missouri. Self added penalty time for Blue team members – regular rotation players – every time they turned the ball over at Wednesday’s workouts.

“It helps when you are at practice, the fact you have to take practice seriously,” senior Jeff Hawkins said. “You are out there thinking, ‘I don’t want to make mistakes and have to get on the treadmill.'”

Last week, players had to sprint on the treadmill at its highest incline at a 41â2-minute-mile pace for up to 80 seconds at a time.

“Normally you get on it for 15 seconds. Fifteen seconds is not easy, but not hard,” Hawkins said. “When you have to run 80 seconds straight, it’s tough. Twenty seconds go by and you say, ‘I’ve got 60 more to go.’ It’s hard for anybody.”

Sophomore guard Russell Robinson, who had 13 points, six assists and two steals in Saturday’s 96-54 rout of Nebraska, said he was able to avoid treadmill duty for a long stretch.

“You are not bound to get stuck on it. I went three weeks without hitting the treadmill,” Robinson said. “If you avoid it means you are having a good practice. It’s something that gets you to focus on doing what coach wants.”

Self says the treadmill “is a good way to get their focus going. One of the reason we’ve practiced better is we have a treadmill in effect the entire practice. It’s for when they don’t block out or whatever. It’s tough. Brandon (Rush) gets on it every time he doesn’t shoot the ball.”

Rush, who turned down a possible game-tying shot in overtime at Missouri, put up 11 shots Saturday, hitting seven.

“This is still new to him, too. We are asking a freshman to lead Kansas,” Self said. “I think it is very possible, (but) (Nick) Collison, (Drew) Gooden, (Kirk) Hinrich : they didn’t have that much pressure of leading Kansas as freshmen. It’s what we ask him to do because it’s what is best for our team. He can be more aggressive.”