In just a few minutes, the 6-3 Kansas Jayhawks will take on the Missouri Tigers. The Tigers currently hold an 8-1 record, with their sole loss coming to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in a 76-71 loss earlier this month.
Over the past couple of days, so much of the talk has been around the possible return of former five-star guard Darryn Peterson. Peterson hasn’t played in over a month, with his last appearance in Kansas’ 87-74 loss to the now No. 16 UNC Tarheels.
Yet moments ago, it was announced that the Jayhawks will be fielding a starting five with Darryn Peterson in the mix
#kubball starting 5 pic.twitter.com/odpj0PsMqG
— JayhawkSlant (@JayhawkSlant) December 7, 2025
Without Peterson at the Player Era Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Jayhawks strung together three superb wins, and while the focus of the team will always be on the inevitable top-pick Peterson, despite early-season struggles in losses to No. 16 UNC and to the No. 4 Duke Blue Devils, the Jayhawks showed resilience especially in the third-place match against the No. 13 Tennessee Volunteers in an 81-76 comeback win, which saw Kansas trail by as many as 12 points.
Kansas did go on to lose to the No. 5 UConn Huskies, where once again things felt eerily similar to Kansas’ loss to the Blue Devils. Against UConn, second-half hiccups that resulted in just five field goals over the course of 20 minutes.
With tipoff just minutes away, the hype around Peterson’s return is palpable. Tipoff is set for 12 p.m. CT with streaming available on ESPN 2.