photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas forward Jamari Traylor (31) gets an earful of praise from Kansas forward Carlton Bragg Jr. during a timeout in the second half, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016 at Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas forward Jamari Traylor (31) gets an earful of praise from Kansas forward Carlton Bragg Jr. during a timeout in the second half, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016 at Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas.

Jamari Traylor has watched closely from nearby as a Kansas basketball team made a deep run through the postseason. An NCAA partial qualifier, Traylor sat out his first year in Lawrence, only practicing in the spring semester with what turned out to be a Final Four squad.

But the senior power forward from Chicago never has personally contributed to anything better than a Sweet 16 berth for KU in 2013, his freshman season. Back then, Traylor didn’t have Bill Self’s trust like he does now. Traylor played a combined 13 minutes as the Jayhawks moved past Western Kentucky and North Carolina, and lost to Michigan. He took three shots, made two of them, scored four points, but didn’t even collect a rebound.

Each of the following two seasons, Traylor’s role increased, but Kansas faltered early in March Madness, exiting with just a single tourney victory in both 2014 and 2015.

Traylor, like the most of his teammates, struggled to score inside (1-for-8 shooting) in a 60-57 second-round loss to Stanford his sophomore year, two days after dominating against Eastern Kentucky, with 17 points and 14 boards.

http://www2.kusports.com/news/2014/mar/23/arch-sadness-kus-season-ends-st-louis-round-32/

As a junior, Traylor’s season concluded with him contributing four points (2-for-5 shooting) and five rebounds off the bench as KU lost, 78-65, to Wichita State.

http://www2.kusports.com/news/2015/mar/22/bounced-shockers-do-they-please-send-jayhawks-home/

Those back-to-back Round of 32 losses don’t fall solely on Traylor’s broad shoulders, of course. KU’s core of veterans — Perry Ellis, Wayne Selden Jr. and Frank Mason III — also played key roles in those season-ending head-scratchers. But Traylor takes ownership in the program’s successes and shortcomings. That’s one reason why, as the Jayhawks head into the postseason this March, the 6-foot-8 leader senses this team can actually live up to KU’s lofty expectations.

photo by: Nick Krug

Iowa State guard Monte Morris (11) falls on top of Kansas forward Jamari Traylor (31) as Traylor slides to secure a loose ball during the second half, Saturday, March 5, 2016 at Allen Fieldhouse. At left is Kansas forward Landen Lucas (33).

“It’s pretty much a different
feeling,” Traylor said of the vibe,
compared to the other KU teams he has
played for. “I feel like we’ve got a
group of guys who’s a little more
hungry. We’ve tasted defeat in the
postseason, so we know what’s around
the corner for us. I’m a senior now.
Perry’s a senior now. So we know it’s
our last opportunity, so we’re more
locked in.”

Even before the season began, Traylor thought the final Kansas team he played on could be as good defensively as the one he watched reach the 2012 national championship game.

What’s more, the closer the KU’s veterans get to the NCAAs, the better their defense looks. In Big 12 play, the Jayhawks held opponents to 39.2% shooting. No other team registered better than 42.9% — by both West Virginia and Oklahoma State.

KU’s improving defensive effort, coinciding with the emergence of junior big man Landen Lucas, is a sign of the hunger Traylor described.

“As a younger team, I guess guys
probably could feel like we could come
back next year or come back the year
after,” Traylor explained of the more
youthful KU rosters who fell short in
past postseasons. “We don’t have that
opportunity. I feel like we’re more
focused in and we’ve just gotta be in
tune, because we know one bad mistake
or one bad game we can be over.”

In March, intangibles tend to push teams closer to a Final Four. Self pointed to an immeasurable characteristic when asked what he admired most about this year’s Jayhawks.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas forward Jamari Traylor (31) hammers home a dunk against Kansas State during the second half, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016 at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kan.

“I would say, I would probably never
give my teams that much credit for
being pretty tough, but I think they
are pretty tough in crucial
situations,” Self said. “I think that
they usually — not always — usually
rise to the level of what needs to be
done at that particular moment, and,
you know, they like each other.”

Ellis may be best known for his soft shooting touch from inside and outside, but Traylor noticed the team’s leading scorer getting tough in the final minutes of KU’s regular-season finale, an 85-78 home victory over Iowa State.

“He’s just a winner,” Traylor said of
Ellis. “The last play you could tell,
because he put it all out there. He
dove on the court. It was the defining
moment for the game. It just shows how
much you want to win if you do that.”

Traylor, Ellis, Selden and Mason all will have plenty of chances, beginning this weekend at the Big 12 Tournament, to prove with their play if March victories mean even more to them now than they did in the past.