One of the biggest questions all season long across the nation has been on the health of Darryn Peterson. When on the court, college basketball pundits have spoken ad-nauseum and comparisons to Kobe Bryant have even been made. Yet Peterson has struggled due to a variety of different reasons to get fit enough to take to the court, ending up in a number of games this season without the former five-star phenom even subbing due to a stomach bug, cramps, and most recently a tight hamstring which kept him out of Kansas’ trip to Las Vegas, Nevada, in the Players Era.
Without Peterson, it could be understood why any offense in the nation would struggle to make things worse. Kansas also lost out on former Loyola-Chicago transfer Jayden Dawson, who had injured his wrist. Yet while in the southwest, the Jayhawks soared to a 3-0 record, with each game showing enough resolve to push Bill Self’s squad over the edge and into an eventual third-place spot.
While Self has been known to call a number of his teams “soft,” following Kansas’ 81-76 comeback win over the No. 17 Tennessee Volunteers, while still drying off from a Gatorade shower, the head coach spoke on the team’s overall performance in their stint at the Players Era.
"I don't think that we played nearly as tough as what we need to play to be short-handed now. I think you got to figure out a way to win where it's not very pretty when you don't score the ball easily. Today, we scored the ball better, and we actually executed better. But the biggest thing is when the game got in question, and we went down, the guys just played one possession at a time.” Self went on to speak about how the Jayhawks left chances on the table after Kansas’ 87-74 loss to the No. 16 UNC Tar Heels, and a 78-66 loss to the No. 4 Duke Blue Devils. “I thought that's a sign of maybe growing up."
Now things were not perfect. Against Notre Dame, a late run had to be made to ensure a 71-61 win against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The same had to be done a day later against the Syracuse Orange in what turned into a 71-60 win for the Jayhawks.
But from no other game was that toughness more evident than Kansas' comeback win over Rick Barnes’ Vols.
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Kansas was down by as many as 12 early into the second half, and without Darryn Peteson and without the sharpshooting Jayden Dawson, that come-from-behind victory was made even more impressive.
St. Bonaventure transfer Melvin Council Jr. and Elmarko Jackson. Both totaled 17 points against the Volunteers, and on the day, Kansas had four double-digit scorers, including Flory Bidunga and Tre White. Who gathered 13 and 14 points respectively.
Up next for the Jayhawks is a home game against the No. 5 UConn Huskies. UConn sits at a 6-1 mark with its sole loss coming to the Arizona Wildcats in a 71-67 nailbiter.
Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. CT with streaming available on ESPN 2.
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