The person in this world who knows Malik Newman best — his dad, Horatio Webster — says Kansas’ sophomore combo guard is at a great place mentally heading into the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

“He is happy right now. He is ready to play. The kid is a winner. He’s going to do whatever it takes for the Jayhawks to advance. I really believe that,” Webster, a former Mississippi State forward who speaks to his son “two or three times a day,” said Monday in a phone conversation.

Newman, the MVP of the recent Big 12 Tournament, scored 28 points — all in the final 28 minutes — propelling the No. 1 seed Jayhawks to an 83-79 second-round Midwest Regional victory over No. 8 seed Seton Hall on Saturday at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita.

The victory gave KU (29-7) a spot in the Midwest Regional semifinals against No. 5 seed Clemson (25-9). Tipoff will be 6:07 p.m. Friday at CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Neb., with the winner advancing to Sunday’s Elite Eight against Duke or Syracuse.

“He had a great game Saturday, but he’s not out there, saying, ‘Oh, this is unbelievable.’ He’s looking at it like, ‘This is what I do. I’ve been doing it my whole life,’” Webster said.

He stressed that Newman, from Jackson, Miss., “only lost one time in his whole life and that’s when he went to Mississippi State (14-17 record his freshman season). It’s the only blemish on his resumé. Other than that, everything he touched turned to gold.

“At the age of 14, he got on the local news down here and said, ‘I’m going to win four state championships when I get to high school,’ and he did it. He won four state championships at Callaway (High) along with two gold medals (for USA Basketball as MVP of the FIBA Under 16 and 17 tournaments). He won the Big 12 championship and conference tournament championship. It’s ‘winning time’ and kid is a born winner.”

It took Newman some time to get involved before taking over Saturday’s game against Seton Hall. Newman — he scored 18 points in the second half — attempted (and missed) his first shot with 11:55 left in the first half and KU leading 13-6. His first basket — on his second shot of the game — came off a layup with 8:21 remaining before halftime and KU leading 17-13.

“Coach (Bill) Self pulled me to the side (at 9:30 mark of the first half). He was like, ‘Malik it’s been 10 minutes and you only took one shot.’ He was like, ‘You are not being aggressive right now. You are trying to let the flow of the game come to you instead of going out and playing and being aggressive,’’’ Newman said.

“At that point, I changed my mindset and told myself, ‘Malik, you are not doing anything.’ I was able to change it. I was able to be aggressive and my teammates did a good job of finding me.”

Newman finished with 10 points the first half on 4-of-9 shooting as KU took a 31-26 lead into the break. His 28 points came on 8-of-14 shooting. He was 4 of 8 from three and 8 of 8 from the line.

“I think for the most part he was trying to sit back and let the game come to him. It worked out this game,” Webster said, cautioning, “I don’t think he can afford to think that again. I think he’s got to be immediate help. I think he needs to try to grab the bull by the horns when the ball is tipped up. It worked out this game so we’ll take it.”

Webster trusts Self will continue to push the right buttons with his son, who has averaged 13.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Newman scored 72 points in three Big 12 Tournament games that preceded the NCAAs, where he scored 10 points on 5-of-12 shooting in a first-round win over Penn and the 28 points versus Seton Hall.

“I told Coach Self before he got Malik, ‘Coach if Malik knows you are in his corner, he’ll run through this brick wall for you. It’s the type of kid he is.’ He loves Coach Self. Early in the season he may have said, ‘Is Coach Self really in my corner or not?’” Webster related, noting Malik was pulled from several games immediately after making a mistake.

“Coach Self … it’s why he is in the Hall of Fame. He kept on, kept on and at the end of the day got Malik to buy into, ‘You are going to do it Coach Self’s way or you are not going to do it at all.’ I respect the hell out of Coach Self for that,” Webster added, noting, “Coach Self made him play. He made him tougher. He made him defend. He made him rebound. He gave him confidence, all the stuff he didn’t have at the first part of the year.”

Newman said at this stage of the season, Self mainly works on “my mindset, just telling me to have a free mind and thinking aggressive. He says, ‘If it goes good, or if it goes bad, think next play because it’s a long game.’ He tells me, ‘Just let it go, go out and have fun, just play and everything will take care of itself.’”

Self said the current version of Newman, “has played ball the right way, has been explosive, getting in the zone, made plays for others. He gives us a whole different dimension when he’s aggressive. I’m excited what lies ahead. I think he can be a difference maker in the tournament.”

As to whether Newman can help lead KU to two victories in Omaha and spot in the Final Four, Webster said: “I feel we (the Jayhawks) are in a great position. I feel like we haven’t put a complete game together yet. Somebody has been really good and others have been mediocre depending on the game. I feel that game is coming where all our guards will be clicking. ... If we are clicking like that with the big fella (Udoka Azubuike) in the middle and guys coming off the bench for support, nobody in the country can beat us.”