“Just the fact that we don’t have to deal with that, it’s a good feeling,” Kersgieter said Thursday. “We’re looking forward to playing a good team right off the bat. It’s nice to know that we’ve kind of been through that and we’re past it and we’ve grown past it.”

Perhaps nothing demonstrates that growth more than the Jayhawks (20-8) claiming the No. 5 seed in the tournament after their best finish in the conference since the 1999-2000 season. They will play their first game, after a bye, against No. 4 seed Oklahoma at Municipal Auditorium at 11 a.m. on Friday.

Kansas was relegated to playing in the first round for the last nine seasons and only four times did it reach the quarterfinals.

That means on Friday, it will be able to experience the full atmosphere of the Big 12 tournament — four games in one day — especially after attendance was limited for last year’s event because of the COVID-19 pandemic and it was canceled entirely a year before.

“I think it will be exciting, even if it’s early in the morning,” said redshirt sophomore guard Chandler Prater. “I’m sure our fans will bring it and I’m sure their fans will bring it. First game of the day, I’m sure people are ready to get this thing kicked off. I’m ready. I’m excited.”

The game will be a rematch of the regular-season finale held on Saturday, when Kansas won 73-67 at Oklahoma.

It’ll be the third time this season the Jayhawks have played the same opponent twice in a seven-day span, but unlike the previous two occasions, they had two days of practice to fix mistakes and add layers to their game plan.

“It’s enough time to look at film and (say), ‘Hey, we want to make an adjustment here and there,’ and ‘We want to switch this’ and ‘We don’t want to switch that,'” coach Brandon Schneider said. “I think in terms of a completely new game plan, that’s not what we’re going to do.”

Of course, that’s not entirely needed, given the outcome of Saturday’s game. Kersgieter described the two practices, held Tuesday and Wednesday, as addressing “the little details — things that we can fix that can give us 10 more points or take away 10 points of theirs that we gave to them.”

The 21st-ranked Sooners (23-7) play an uptempo style that emphasizes quick perimeter shots but leads to mistakes. On Saturday, they made 11 of 40 3-pointers and had 23 turnovers, or one on more than one-quarter of their 80 possessions.

“People say (running is) their strength, and we took their strength and kind of threw it back at them,” Kersgieter said. “I think we did a good job, and it’s all in the game plan (Friday) — keep playing fast.”

By defeating Oklahoma last week, Kansas managed to beat all but two Big 12 opponents this season, Iowa State and Baylor. As the top seed in the tournament, Baylor looms in the semifinals if it defeats No. 9 seed Oklahoma State.

But the Jayhawks nearly won the two games against the Bears this season, including one at home on Jan. 16 in which they led by four points with 15 seconds left but lost, 82-79.

That means Kansas will not only have a different tournament experience, it will have a different mentality — one that suggests it could find success this weekend.

“I just think with the stakes rising, it’s just going to be more energetic,” Prater said. “It’s going to be a different atmosphere than a regular conference game. I’m just excited to leave everything out on the court, no matter who the opponent is.”