Saturday night will be the first of two Sunflower Showdowns between the No. 19 Kansas Jayhawks and the Kansas State Wildcats. The Jayhawks have not taken a win in Manhattan since the 2021-22 season in what was a thrilling 78-75 win en route to their second NCAA National Championship under head coach Bill Self.
One of the biggest talking points heading into the tense fixture was the health of star guard Darryn Peterson. Peterson suffered an ankle sprain in Kansas' 75-69 win against the Colorado Buffaloes earlier this week. Against Colorado, Peterson notched just 16 points on 15 shots, easily one of his statistically worst nights as a Jayhawk, although Self would mention in his press conference earlier this week that Peterson’s ankle was a bother during the game following the sprain.
Peterson is set to miss out against the Wildcats
Minutes ago, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein broke the news every Kansas fan did not want to hear ahead of the Wildcats. Peterson is ruled out.
Kansas' Darryn Peterson (ankle) is OUT for tonight's game against Kansas State, per Bill Self.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) January 24, 2026
Peterson was just on course to get himself back to being fully fit, after spells of time on the sideline thanks to cramping and hamstring issues, and the Jayhawks looked as fluent as they had all season with Peterson on the court. Kansas thumped the No. 2 Iowa State Cyclones and the Baylor Bears in back-to-back games before Tuesday’s win against Colorado brought their overall record to 14-5, including a 4-2 conference mark.
This signifying a massive turnaround from their 1-2 start in Big 12 play, where the team looked largely discombobulated and over-reliant on the freshman.
Saturday’s clash against Kansas State is set for 7 p.m. CT with streaming available on FOX.
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