After seeing teammate Joe Yesufu tweak his hamstring during a team practice, Pettiford quickly began to wrap his mind around the idea that he’d have to play — or was it get to play? — more minutes during the Jayhawks’ next game.

He did. A career-high 25 minutes, in fact.

To make sure he was ready for the heavier-than-normal workload, he made a couple of moves that he said benefited him a great deal.

“(I had to) change my eating habits, drink more water that day, because I knew I’d play more minutes in the first half,” Pettiford said after Tuesday’s win.

Because of injuries and the talent of those ahead of him, big minutes have been tough to come by for Pettiford during his first two seasons at Kansas. But Tuesday was arguably his best all-around game as a Jayhawk, and a big reason for it was the fact that he was out there for so much of it.

His numbers were solid. He finished with seven points on 3-of-6 shooting and added four rebounds and six assists while recording a team-best +14 plus/minus number. No one else even hit double digits in the stat that measures the point differential between the two teams with a particular player on the floor.

Pettiford said it was his mindset and the fact that he knew he was in line to play more minutes with Yesufu out that helped inspire him to the solid night.

“Oh yeah, for sure,” he said. “Especially knowing that with certain mistakes I made I had to play through them — bring energy and just play.”

With Yesufu out, Self’s options were limited at the four guard positions that Kansas usually uses. Although he sprinkled freshman MJ Rice in there for a couple of minutes, it was pretty clear pretty quickly that Pettiford would need to come through.

“That’s only five guys to play 160 minutes,” Self said after Tuesday’s win. “So, yeah, we knew Bobby was going to have to play a lot.”

But it wasn’t just the 25 minutes that registered as a lot in this one. It was also where Pettiford played and how Self used him. For most of the season, the 6-foot-1 guard from Durham, North Carolina, has been used primarily as Dajuan Harris Jr.’s backup at the point. His role was expanded against the Red Raiders.

“I just (had to) be prepared to go get anybody,” Pettiford said of his substitution pattern. “I have to know and play different spots, not just the 1. I have to know if I’m in J-Wil or Gradey or Kev.”

Self said Thursday that he did not know how ready Yesufu would be for Saturday’s 5 p.m. game at West Virginia, listing the second-year Jayhawk as still “day to day” but “making progress.”

Self added that having Pettiford’s confidence at an all-time high heading into the matchup with the high-pressure Mountaineers was a case of good timing.

For one, he gives KU another option at multiple spots on the perimeter. For two, he’s shown to be a reliable point guard who can run the show when starter Dajuan Harris Jr. is out of the game.

“When you play West Virginia and they’ve got two little guards that can play underneath you the whole time, he’s going to be very important to give Juan (a rest) because Juan’s not going to be able to play 35 minutes in this particular game at the pace and the physicality it’ll probably be, going against pressure all the time,” Self said. “Bobby’s been good. He’s been a much-needed addition for us off the bench.”

Harris and Pettiford also have shown good chemistry playing together.

“It’s not exactly playing Frank (Mason) and Devonte’ (Graham) back there, where both guys can go for 25,” Self said. “But they both play to their strengths pretty well together. I think they like playing together and I look at Bobby as a valuable piece to allow Juan to stay fresh. You go back over time and look at when Juan has been careless or screwed some things up, it’s usually because he hasn’t had a sub.

“Hopefully (playing Pettiford a little more will) help us down the road, getting (Harris) out more, because you have to have him in there late.”