Despite losing 78-66 to the No. 5 Duke Blue Devils, there seems to be a calmness with this group of players, and especially around head coach Bill Self. While against UNC, there were real causes for concern, including a second half that saw the UNC Tar Heels rattle off 58 points, despite being undermanned with star Darryn Peterson, the Jayhawks had their chances to possibly pull off a win over the ACC side. Things at the end just fell a little flat.
The hope is that when Peterson makes his return to the hardwood, the level of the Jayhawks will be taken up a notch. Despite only playing in two games this season, Peterson has averaged an outstanding 21.5 points per game, along with a smooth 60% rate from the field, which includes 50% from beyond the arc. Peterson has also added an average of three and a half rebounds, three assists, one block, and two steals, which pushes aside two turnovers. Following Kansas’ latest loss, Self was asked about the outlook of Peterson’s injury.
“...He's had hamstring tightness, which is caused by a slight hamstring strain. So, until that subsides, he's gonna not be confident to play on it, and push off, and those sorts of things, which has been going on…And we don't think it'll be long.”
The two-time NCAA National Championship-winning coach also relayed that all camps do “feel good” over the way the situation is being handled with the former five-star recruit.
Later in the press conference, when asked about Peterson’s availability heading into the Players Era Festival, Self replied,
“Well, he's going to be reevaluated later in the week. Yeah, that could be, yeah, he could not be available to us, but we'll just have to wait and see after he’s evaluated here.”
In the past, when Self has spoken about this, the mood has been a lot more downcast. There was a palpable sense of unknown about the health of the nation’s former No. 1 best player.
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Obviously, there is still a massive way to go before these mental hurdles Peterson seems to be dealing with are firmly in the rearview, but the fact that the Jayhawks get to rest until November 24th, before their stay in Las Vegas for the Players Era gets underway.
Kansas will take on Notre Dame and Syracuse on the 24th and 25th, before their next opponent is revealed, with the tournament ending on the 27th, before another five days of rest clock in.
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