by Jeff Goodman

"I didn't know what to expect out of anybody," Collins said. "Brady (Morningstar) and Tyrel (Reed) didn't really play last year and Markieff and Marcus Morris weren't even allowed to practice in the preseason."

After getting a much-needed 92-85 victory at home against No. 14 Tennessee on Saturday afternoon, Collins has started to believe in his teammates. Instead of trying to do it himself, the junior point guard found a way to finish with a career-high 26 points while also setting up his teammates for nine assists.

"I don't think too many people can stay in front of me," Collins said.

Tennessee's athletic Bobby Maze was the latest victim.

But that wasn't the case a few months back when the stocky 5-foot-10 Chicago native's weight ballooned to 215 pounds.

"A lot of people could stay in front of me then," Collins half-joked.

Collins was clearly the best player on the floor in Saturday afternoon's victory that will give the Jayhawks' younger players some of the swagger that might have been lacking after fretting away leads in losses to Syracuse, UMass and Arizona.

He set the tone early by driving into the lane and finishing with ease to give Kansas a first-half lead. The Vols appeared as though they would have had trouble guarding a tree.

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Then Collins added a couple 3's, dished to his teammates for easy buckets — and had 14 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists at the break.

"At times earlier in the season, I tried to do too much one-on-one," Collins said. "Instead of just making the right play."

Tennessee had a grand total of three assists in the half and was fortunate to trail by only single digits, 40-31.

While his team had some lapses, Collins didn't let up. He imposed his will on the Vols and wasn't just the most productive player on the floor, but also the one who possessed unparalleled toughness. Tennessee never really threatened the entire game.

"We're absolutely not tough enough," Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said.

That's what happens when you lose JaJuan Smith and Chris Lofton — the team's top two scorers — and hard-nosed guard Ramar Smith.

Collins has a more-than-capable sidekick in big man Cole Aldrich, who had countless uncontested dunks to go along with uncontested jumpers. While Aldrich (22 points, 10 rebounds, 6 blocks) doesn't possess the same level of toughness of Collins, he's certainly one of the most talented big men in the country.

However, people seem to forget that Aldrich is just a sophomore and has already logged more minutes in 13 games this season than he did all of last year. He scored 112 points as a frosh — and has 192 so far this season.

"I'm only a sophomore and I'm a vet," Aldrich said.

This 1-2 punch should be able to stand up with just about anyone — sans North Carolina. I'd put it up against Blake Griffin and Willie Warren in the Big 12, Duke's Kyle Singler and either Gerald Henderson or Jon Scheyer or Pittsburgh's Sam Young and Levance Fields.

The problem is the supporting cast — which is made up of guys who logged fewer than 300 total minutes all of last season.

The Jayhawks are reliant on staying out of foul trouble, which was an issue against Tennessee for the one freshman who is ready to log major minutes — guard Tyshawn Taylor.

Taylor is the only other player on the team besides Collins (17.6) and Aldrich (14.8) averaging double-figures.

It's a supporting cast that will be critical to whether the Jayhawks can do what two-time national champion Florida was unable to — make the NCAA tournament after being decimated by departures following a national title.

"I don't want to be one of those teams," Collins said. "We won't let it happen."

I heard the same exact line from Florida's Nick Calathes a year ago before he was NIT-bound.

Only time — and his young, unproven teammates — will tell whether Collins is prophetic or not.