Looney had 29 pt 19 board effort in the double OT game against Stanford. They're getting some better performances from key players, whereas before, it seemed like they were all slumping at the same time. Plus, maybe hanging tough and pulling out a win in double OT gave them a much needed shot of confidence (after having it demolished by UK and giving up in that game) and they're learning that maybe they can come back when things get hard and pull out a win when the going gets tough.
There's little to no room left for error in trying to make the NCAAT. I dunno, I'm still leaning against it, but one never knows.