The Kansas basketball team started the 2025-26 season impressively with an exhibition victory at Louisville, 90-82. While no one should overreact to a preseason game that carries no weight, there were plenty of interesting things in this entertaining matchup.
The glaringly obvious bright spot for this game was the college debut of super-frosh Darryn Peterson, who played up to his pre-game hype, especially with 24 first-half points.
The Jayhawks played well throughout the game. There are plenty of things to work on going forward, but fans should be encouraged by what they witnessed in this game.
3 things aside from Darryn Peterson’s performance in the Kansas basketball win over Louisville
No. 1 - KU is deep inside but needs a more intentional inside game
The Jayhawks have four interior players—Flory Bidunga, Paul Mbiya, Tre White, and Bryson Tiller — who offer versatility and athleticism. Bindunga will be a steady performer who’s improved his game. He still showed tendency to foul, and he needs to get better in that area.
Mbiya is raw but undeniably talented. Defensively, he was able to hedge on the perimeter, but was quick to recover and get back to his man. He has several areas in which to improve, but you can see the talent.
White and Tiller showed perimeter skills on offense and were physical on the defensive boards, but need to develop a more substantial inside presence. Tiller had a fantastic second half on both ends and looks like he could be a massive matchup problem for many opponents.
No. 2 - Defensively, Kansas played with high intensity
Now, this is a Bill Self defense! They swarmed all over the court, helping, hedging, and recovering. They got hands into the passing lanes, and they maintained their intensity.
While this was an exhibition, Louisville is very good and the Yum! Center is a tough place to play. Both teams were giving everything, so it was great to see the Jayhawks competing so hard defenssively in a meaningless game.
KU will need to maintain that intensity level while not fouling as much. They are deep, but foul trouble against great teams could cost them down the road.
No. 3 - Kansas played well when Peterson was on the bench
Surprisingly, the Jayhawks played relatively well when Peterson wasn’t on the court. Conversely, they didn’t play that well as a team when he was on the floor. Too often, the offensive movement came to a standstill and KU was to reliant on Peterson.
Still, it was encouraging that Kansas didn’t lose ground on the scoreboard when its young star was getting some rest. There was more balanced scoring. Interestingly enough, Self kept Peterson on the bench for most of the second half. Peterson did get roughed up a couple of times during hte game, so it was probably precautionary.
Self’s job will be to get everyone involved in the offense when Peterson is on the floor. The young freshman does have the ability to get his teammates involved, but they’ve got to help him. It’s early; this aspect will improve going forward.
This game doesn’t even count for anything, but things are looking bright for the Kansas basketball team.
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