LAWRENCE — There were some people who had a little trouble counting Tuesday, after Nicolas Timberlake hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game for Kansas basketball.

One, of course, was Jayhawks coach Bill Self. He’s the one who’s explaining what happened as he turned toward Timberlake’s family, in the second half, and motioned that bucket was Timberlake’s fifth from behind the arc. And, according to Self, Timberlake’s family made the same mistake as they motioned that was Timberlake’s fifth as well.

But all joking aside, Timberlake’s performance against Kansas State embodied a lot of what he and his team have been looking for from him this season. In a 90-68 win inside Allen Fieldhouse, the graduate senior guard dropped a season-high 18 points — while shooting 4-for-5 on threes. At a time when Kansas’ sights are set on being in the best position possible when postseason play begins, he may have just experienced the spark he’ll need to be more of a consistent factor for the No. 15 Jayhawks (22-8, 10-7 in Big 12).

RELATED: Here’s how Kansas basketball’s seniors said their goodbyes Tuesday inside Allen Fieldhouse

RELATED: Hunter Dickinson reveals how he’s thinking about his future with Kansas basketball

“It’s great,” graduate senior guard Kevin McCullar Jr. said. “Everybody can criticize making shots, but (Timberlake) affects the game in many other ways. He’s coming in. He’s working. Last person to leave the gym, getting shots up, that’s all you can ask. For us, it’s our last year, it’s our last shot at this, so we’re really just locking in and trying to do this thing.”

It’s not as if Timberlake hasn’t played this year. He’s actually one of the six Kansas players who has appeared in all 30 games, and he has five starts as well. But he hasn’t been as significant a part of the rotation as many expected, as the Towson transfer is averaging 13.8 minutes per game, shooting 38.3% from the field and 30% from behind the arc.

After the initial weeks of the season, consistent playing time became hard to come by for Timberlake. That was especially true during the early parts of Big 12 Conference play. It wasn’t until the Jayhawks got into February, starting with that win at home against now-No. 11 Baylor, that the trend started to change.

The four games Timberlake has played the most in Kansas’ last seven have been the ones McCullar has missed due to injury, of course. But Timberlake did still play more than 20 minutes on senior night Tuesday, with McCullar available. There are minutes for him if he can better hold his own defensively and hit shots like he did Tuesday, when he shot 6-for-7 from the field, 4-for-5 from behind the arc and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line.

That would certainly allow the Jayhawks’ depth to have the potential to be at its best. It’s something Self alluded to after this week’s rivalry win. And it’s something Kansas will likely need to reach the heights it desires, both Saturday on the road at No. 1 Houston (27-3, 14-3 in Big 12) in the regular season finale and in the postseason.

“I think a lot of the players aren’t really surprised by it. I feel like some of the fans might be, but I think the players aren’t really surprised by when (Timberlake) goes out there and plays like that because we see the work he puts in,” senior center Hunter Dickinson said. “Like Kevin said, he’s always getting shots after practice, before practice, stuff like that, so he’s really working on his game and I think it was really good to see him really succeed out there tonight.”

RELATED: Inside what Taiyanna Jackson has meant to Kansas women’s basketball during her career

RELATED: Who will Kansas women’s basketball play in Big 12 Conference tournament? Seed, time, TV

RELATED: 3 more things to think about before Kansas football kicks off spring ball this year

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas basketball's Nicolas Timberlake scores well vs. Kansas State