photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas forward Landen Lucas (33) and Kansas guard Frank Mason III (0) trap Oklahoma guard Darrion Strong-Moore (0) during the second half, Monday, Feb. 27, 2017 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver did just fine with his 95 mph fastball and then when he found himself in a particularly tight spot he applied a little extra mustard to it. The hitter, trying to time himself to get around on 95, was late on the 98 mph heat and Tom Terrific escaped another jam.

Kansas basketball coach Bill Self has a 98 mph fastball in his back pocket, too, using it sparingly and with great success. It’s called defensive pressure, half-court trapping, full-court pressing.

Defensive pressure made another appearance midway through Monday night’s Allen Fieldhouse finale and turned the tide in the Jayhawks’ favor again.

The press brought Kansas back from a 14-point deficit with inside of three minutes remaining in a victory against West Virginia in Allen Fieldhouse and it played a big part against in Monday’s comeback victory against Oklahoma.

Great 3-point shooting from Devonte’ Graham and Legerald Vick and the full-court pressure combined to turn a 12-point deficit into a six-point lead, a 20-4 run that ate just 4:35 from the clock (from 9:44 through 5:09). Oklahoma turned it over four times during that blitz.

“The key when you come in here is not letting them score off your offense by turning the ball over,” Sooners coach Lon Kruger said. “They’re great in transition. They take advantage of turnovers. When we lost our composure there at the six-minute mark, it went south pretty quickly. We’ve just got ot be stronger and fight through everything that’s happening and go make a play. We didn’t handle the ball tough enough during that time.”

It’s tough to when facing a team that brings as much quickness as Kansas when Frank Mason, Graham, Lagerald Vick and Josh Jackson are on the floor together.

At halftime, I wondered if Self would open the second half with full-court pressure, not only to rattle Oklahoma, but to wake up his own team. He waited for a quarter of the game remained and timed it perfectly.

It’s become a game within the game, wondering when or if at all Self will pull the 98 mph fastball out of his back pocket.

Afterward, Self said he wished he could press all the time and lamented that it’s not an option because of the team’s lack of depth.

Nah. That would ruin the surprise element and take away the adrenaline factor the Kansas players get from the rare treat.

This team plays with a great deal of confidence and it never flows faster than when it turns up the defensive pressure.

It will be enjoyable throughout the postseason to try to guess when Self reaches back for the 98 mph fastball.