By no means was No. 4 Kansas’ 68-60 first-round win over No. 13 Cal Baptist conventional. The Jayhawks were seven points away from dropping what would have been the biggest lead in Tournament history. This was aided by a monster 42 points given up across the final 20 minutes, 20 of which by dynamite guard Dominique Daniels Jr.
However, the motto in March has been and always will be “survive and advance,” and Kansas will ultimately be moving on to face Rick Pitino and the No. 5 St. John’s Red Storm this Sunday.
Darryn Peterson was one of very few consistent pieces for the Jayhawks
While the former five-star started out with an ice-cold 0/6 mark from the field, it was easily disguisable as both teams combined for 21 missed field goals before 10 minutes were even played.
Yet Kansas actually finished the half up by a stern 20 points, and Peterson was a key reason why as the freshman totaled 15 points on 6/14 shooting, finishing with just two first-half points fewer than the Lancers.
While Cal Baptist would end up taking the second period by storm with a stellar 50% field goal rate and 20 points from Daniels, Peterson did his best to keep the 13-seed at bay with an additional 13 points, totaling an astounding 28, on an 11/24 mark from the field.
Peterson was the only KU player who finished with 10+ second-half points as Bill Self’s offense hit just 40% of its attempts.
As the NBA Draft edges closer, there are more questions than ever regarding Peterson’s health in the long term as Peterson has endured injury hiccups all season long, most notably cramping issues.
However, his 28-point spree against the Lancers was the most in an NCAA Tournament game by a Kansas freshman in the Bill Self era. An era that spans all the way back to 2003.
Built for this. pic.twitter.com/ufq1JVWRy3
— Kansas Men’s Basketball (@KUHoops) March 21, 2026
Whether it is fair or not, the pressure for Peterson to deliver will last all postseason long, as the team’s second-highest scorer, Tre White, just pushed to 12 points on 10 shots.
This, of course, follows a season-long pattern for the Jayhawks, which sees Kansas’ scoring offense rank 156th in the country with just 75.4 points per game.
Kansas must find its best form ahead of St. John’s
The Red Storm currently averages a much stronger 81.5 points per game, which ranks 43rd in the nation. The Pitino-led side allows 69.5 points per game, just .4 worse than Kansas.
Leading the Big East Tournament winners is former Jayhawk Zuby Ejiofor.
Ejiofor is enjoying one of the nation’s best seasons with a stellar 16.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2.1 blocks per game.
To cap off Ejiofor’s stellar season, he became the first unanimous Big East Player of the Year since Doug McDermott for Creighton in the 2013/14 campaign.
Tipoff against St. John’s is set for 4:15 p.m. CT with streaming available on CBS.
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