LAWRENCE, Kan. — It resembled a victory lap inside Allen Fieldhouse, though Bill Self would probably wince at that description. But here he was, seconds after Kansas knocked off a No. 1 team inside this building for the first time in its history, fists raised in the air, embracing a crowd that just wouldn’t leave.

It fit the moment: KU beat previously-unbeaten Arizona 82-78 on Big Monday, and it did so without Darryn Peterson, who sat with what the team called flu-like symptoms.

For months, this team’s proverbial ceiling has necessitated an asterisk, pivoting on the tease of Peterson, a new-age drama that now includes a recorded text message that the school insists has no authority or inside information. But Kansas just might be able to play without him, because it insists on playing without excuse, full steam ahead, the availability of the star be damned.

Which is why the Self celebration is a precursor, not the talking point. After he’d turned to each side of the stands, fists flexed and raised each time, Self rotated to face midcourt.

That’s where he saw him.

Melvin Council Jr. A big grin. A tight hug.

“How can you have a bad day when you’re around him?” Self asked.

Thing is, Council did have a bad day — on the stat sheet.

Nowhere else.

Have you ever seen a player miss 19 shots and perfectly embody a win?

KU had opened sluggish only a handful of minutes after the players were told Peterson wouldn’t play. It finished with an electric Council dunk that came after the clock hit zero. The exclamation point didn’t count, but it seemed most appropriate for the night.

He never let up.

And KU followed the lead of its point guard.

Self left the court shortly after the postgame hug. Council finally did, too, the first time he’d departed since the tip, a full 40 minutes under his belt. But he returned a few minutes later, and the sprinkle of the remaining crowd responded the same way they do every time he touches the ball.

With barks.

“He owns this place,” Self said. “He’s as popular as any kid we’ve ever had play here.”

Those in the crowd — amped at its highest volume Monday — aren’t the only ones to embrace Melvin Council.

Self has.

It’s why KU is here, perhaps the hottest team in the country and on the verge of regaining their supremacy in a conference that reigns supreme.

For two years, Kansas basketball has looked a little different, adjusting to a college basketball world that looks a lot different. The combination of the fast-moving transfer portal and NIL has robbed Self of some of his greatest strengths.

A 6-foot-4, 180-pound missile-with-the-basketball has returned them all, and his playing style is only a smidgen of it.

Council is the antithesis of every worry the transfer era has provided Kansas. The year-to-year growth. The personality. The culture.

Self built his best teams on players who improved from year to year. His Final Four and championship teams were led by upperclassmen who not only had playing experience but playing-at-Kansas experience.

Council has taken his giant leap during the season. He’s unrecognizable from the opening week, even the opening month.

So is this team.

But it sure looks like a few pretty darn good teams from years past.

Which is the other adjustment required in this era. In the not-so-distant past, Self built the foundation of his best rosters on those that bought into a culture. That’s a significant part of what those upperclassmen provided. But how can you get a collection of transfers to quickly buy into that?

Well, this transfer drives the culture. Council is this team’s personality, its heartbeat, embracing the animosity that comes with wearing the jersey anywhere outside Lawrence, and feeding the energy inside a place that isn’t exactly in need of much of a boost.

Absent his projected No. 1 pick, Self has handed the reins of his red-hot basketball team to a player who’s been on campus for less than a year.

“He’s put his handprint on this place as much as anybody possibly could in the short amount of time he’s been here,” Self said.

On Monday, Allen Fieldhouse had the noise of a jet engine and a point guard who moved faster than one. It doesn’t win unless it has both.

And doesn’t win unless it has a coach patient enough to handle the swings — yet another adjustment this era has necessitated. It won’t come together as quickly. It will take time. Self still doesn’t believe KU is anywhere near where it could be.

But it’s winning.

And they’re sticking with it.

Statistically, Council was at his least effective. He made 6 of 25 shots. That’s not a misprint. At one point, he had missed eight of his nine attempts. But not once did his head coach tell him to slow down. Instead, he hoped the crowd could will him to speed up.

Council changed the flow and tempo of a game that needed a spark only a few minutes into the first half and only a few minutes into the second. Then he scored five points in the final minute to ice the game.

Even on a night when he wasn’t his best, this team still took on his character

Arizona marched into Lawrence undefeated in early February. But it had not played that team inside that place on that day.

Kansas is 40-0 in Big Monday inside Allen Fieldhouse. Since Self took over the program, the Jayhawks have played 15 games featuring top-10 matchups in which they’re the lower-ranked team.

They’re 15-0.

Some things don’t change.

Because, lately, some things have.

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