RJ Smith is the first to admit he just wasn’t himself for a significant chunk of the Big 12 Conference schedule.

His first full season as part of the rotation for the Colorado men’s basketball team has run the gamut. First, there was a hot start so torrid from long range it was easy to wonder if Smith was about to emerge as a premier marksman in the Big 12. Then there was the extended midseason lull in which Smith often looked overmatched against the same sort of teams that he flourished against just weeks earlier.

But the season isn’t over yet, and Smith has been busy trying to script a better ending. Smith has enjoyed a resurgence in recent weeks, as well as a return to the starting lineup for three of the past four games. It’s a run he hopes to continue when CU visits Kansas State on Sunday (2 p.m., ESPN+).

“I wasn’t really myself for a stretch,” Smith said. “But it’s my first season playing. Those ups and downs comes along with it. It’s my first whole season playing since my senior year of high school. Everything’s a process. It was just a little lump I had in the road.”

Smith redshirted two years ago as a true freshman and played the first seven games off the bench last season before blood clots in his lower leg ended his season.

Smith returned fully healthy this year and was arguably the biggest pleasant surprise of the nonconference schedule for the Buffs, shooting a whopping .590 (23-for-39) from long range through the season’s first 12 games. In Smith’s 15 games since, he has gone 4-for-33 on 3-pointers (.121).

“Other teams know I’m a shooter, so obviously if they’re going to play me up close they want me to drive, so I’ve got to take advantage of that, reading defenses and taking what the defense gives me,” Smith said. “I’m always going to look for my shot. That’s how they’re playing me, but it opens lanes to get downhill. My shot hasn’t been falling, so I’m just trying to do other things to help this team win.”

Several of Smith’s teammates have watched their production drop, perhaps predictably, during Big 12 play. But dismissing Smith’s struggles as a result of the competition doesn’t paint the whole picture. In CU’s three November games against Big 12-like competition at the Maui Invitational, plus the Big 12 opener against Iowa State on Dec. 30, Smith went a combined 7-for-13 on 3-pointers with nine assists against three turnovers.

During last week’s win against Baylor, Smith put together his best offensive game since that Big 12 opener against Iowa State, finishing with 13 points, two assists and no turnovers. One of the more encouraging aspects of the performance is that Smith had a modest game from the arc (1-for-2) but did most of his damage by driving to the rim. It’s an aspect of Smith’s game that head coach Tad Boyle says has to become more prevalent as opposing defenses continue to run Smith off the 3-point line.

“RJ is a guy who can score in a lot of different ways,” Boyle said. “He’s a strong, physical guard. And so his ability to put the ball on the floor and get in the lane and score in the lane has got to be part of his offensive package. I think he’s got the ability to be a three-level scorer. RJ, he’s still evolving as a player. At some point in basketball, especially when you get into league play and people have you scouted, you’ve got to take what the defense gives you.”