For three weeks, all you’d hear about Sherron Collins was that he needed to get his “quads firing.” The phrase means add strength to the left quadriceps muscle, and Bill Self, the medical staff and even Collins repeated the term often enough to make it seem like he would get slightly healthier each time the phrase was uttered.

The repetition must have worked. Finally, the quads fired.

Photo Gallery

Kansas Basketball vs. Loyola

Photo gallery of Kansas men's basketball game against Loyola College Tuesday night in Allen Fieldhouse.

Collins scored 18 points in 28 minutes in Kansas’ 90-60 victory against Loyola College on Tuesday night. It was his best game since returning from a stress fracture he suffered against UMKC in the second game of the season.

“I think that Sherron is back,” Collins said.

Yeah, Collins has been in the lineup since a Dec. 8 game with DePaul, but this game marked his real comeback. He scored his points on a variety of layups, jumpers and three-pointers. More importantly, those layups came on drives where Collins hurled himself through several bodies to the hoop. They were just like the moves he made earlier this season when he appeared ready to have a breakout year.

Collins may have looked good, but let’s remember Self said on Saturday that Collins still hadn’t reached the level he played at before the injury. So, did four days really make a difference?

Collins thinks so. He said one particular play got his quads firing. It came early in the first half when he drove for a layup, made it and got fouled.

He picked a perfect night to come back. Collins needed to step up because junior guard Mario Chalmers sat out the game with a pulled groin he suffered at Monday’s practice. Self said it wasn’t a bad injury and that Chalmers would be ready for Saturday’s game against Nebraska. Although he didn’t like seeing Chalmers get hurt, Self said Chalmers’ injury allowed Collins to get more playing time.

“He needed to get out there and play,” Self said. “He just hadn’t had the chance since he came back.”

Even with Collins’ big game, the Jayhawks struggled early. Kansas’ stagnant first-half effort resembled nothing of the complete game it put together against Boston College on Saturday. The Jayhawks led only 26-22 when the Greyhounds’ Gerald Brown made a three-pointer near the five-minute mark.

From then on, Kansas started clicking. The Jayhawks responded with a 15-2 run to take a 41-24 lead at halftime. The rout continued into the second half, partially because of the play of reserves Cole Aldrich, Jeremy Case and Sasha Kaun. Case finished with a season-high eight points, and Kaun had 14 points and eight rebounds in just 19 minutes.

Junior guard Brandon Rush didn’t impress like Kaun and Case did. He attempted just three field goals in the first half, prompting Self to tell him to be more aggressive on offense in the second half.

If that last sentence seems familiar, there’s a reason. Self has spent a fair amount of time during Rush’s career telling him those exact words, and he’s getting tired of doing it.

“It’s pretty sad that three years into it a coach has to tell his best offensive player to be more aggressive,” Self said. “A coach should never have to do that.”

Rush did score eight points in the second half, but Self still wasn’t pleased with his effort or the entire team’s. Kansas won handily, but, except for Collins, the Jayhawks lacked the consistency they played with on offense and defense against Boston College.

Of course, it was OK for Kansas to struggle in this game, its last one in nonconference play. The conference season starts Saturday at Nebraska, and Self wants his team ready then.

“We gave Loyola way too many shots,” Self said. “Certainly, tonight provided an opportunity to do things better on Saturday.”