Kansas guard Darryn Peterson is finally looking to hit his full rhythm. Amidst hamstring issues and cramps, the former five-star guard had endured a stop-start career to this point. Peterson had finally looked to be back to full health in Kansas’ first win of conference play when the Jayhawks took down the TCU Horned Frogs in an overtime 104-100 thriller, where Peterson notched 32 points. Over the next four games, the Prolific Prep alum had totaled 23, 16, 26, 16, before spraining his ankle in Kansas’ 75-69 win over the Colorado Buffaloes, ruling him out of the Sunflower Showdown, which KU eventually won.
When Peterson was at his best was during his 26 points in Kansas’ 80-62 win over Baylor, a performance that will go down as one of the best Allen Fieldhouse has ever seen, as Peterson’s 26 came off an 11-13 mark from the field in just 23 minutes.
“Closest thing to [Kevin] Durant that I've seen”
“It was the closest thing to [Kevin] Durant that I've seen. When Kevin came in here, he had 26 at halftime, and we couldn't guard him. I had pros, lottery picks, saying, ‘man, I can’t guard him,’ and we couldn’t,” quoted Kansas head coach Bill Self on Jon Rothstein’s podcast “Inside College Basketball Now.”
Following Self stating that Peterson wasn’t in a place of forcing his shot in anyway against the Bears, the two-time national championship-winning coach quoted, “he can go get his own, you know, inside the ark as well as anybody I've ever coached.”
Darryn Peterson's performance against Baylor a few weeks ago reminded Bill Self of Kevin Durant.https://t.co/c9JLel2QnF (Apple)https://t.co/EsZxIkca32 (Spotify)https://t.co/DZVnzRZUeJ (YouTube) pic.twitter.com/7pTLrGs7CV
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) January 28, 2026
With Peterson looking likely to return against the No. 13 BYU Cougars this Saturday, Kansas fans will hope to see the same Peterson that they witnessed against Scott Drew’s team earlier this month.
How has Peterson fared against the nation’s elite?
Assuming Peterson keeps healthy enough for the Cougars, it will only be his second game this season against top 25 competition this season. The first came when No. 25 UNC knocked off the Jayhawks in the second game of the season in an 87-74 loss, with Peterson finishing with 22 points on 8-14 shooting. The second, Kansas’ massive win 84-63 win over No. 2 Iowa State, where Kansas dominated the Cyclones from start to finish, and Peterson finished his 27 minutes with 16 points on a 6-15 mark from the field.
Tipoff against BYU is set for Saturday at 3:30 p.m. CT with streaming available on ESPN.
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