For the second straight season, Kansas walked out of its Big 12 opener on the wrong side of the scoreboard, this time losing 81-75 on the road to UCF. Not great, but the good news: it’s still early.
The Good: Darryn Peterson and Melvin Council Jr. did what they do best
It’s hard to point the finger at Peterson, especially after the freshman returned healthy and poured in 26 points in just 23 minutes. He wasn’t alone in that department, either.
Council finished with 20 points of his own, all of which came in the second half. He certainly fueled the Jayhawks' comeback, even if it fell short in the final few minutes.
Peterson found his rhythm from beyond the arc, finally coming around and finishing the game 5 of 10 (50%) from distance. It also marks a season-high for Peterson, who had yet to hit more than three triples in a game prior to Saturday.
And on paper, Tre White deserves a share of credit. The senior guard also chipped in 14 points and knocked down all five of his free throws — three of them in the final minute to bring Kansas back within a single point.
The Bad: The Jayhawks lost a match that they led in
Basketball is one of the toughest sports to maintain consistency in — that’s no surprise. Some shots don’t fall, but that’s why you keep shooting.
What you can control, however, is the tempo when you’re in charge, and Kansas certainly lost a game it was controlling for much of the night.
The Kansas offense felt slow, stalling for over three minutes multiple times throughout the contest. When things weren’t running through Council or Peterson, it just looked like complete chaos.
But you have to give credit where it’s due; the Knights know how to run the floor. UCF capitalized, putting together two runs of 7-0 throughout the game and never trailed by double figures.
The final sequence of this one was a disaster – more on that later.
The Ugly: threes stall, bad late-game fouls, turnovers force Kansas out of the game
Equally troubling for Kansas was the total number of turnovers. The Jayhawks ended the game with 12, double UCF’s total. White and Peterson each had three, tying for the most among Jayhawks starters. The Knights didn’t waste the opportunities, converting those miscues into 15 points.
Kansas also went quiet from three, only managing to knock down 2 of 10 shots from beyond the arc in the second half.
But think about this: even after Kansas clawed back to within one, why foul on a wide-open layup — a basket that, even if it goes in, still leaves the game a single possession away? It’s the kind of fast-break mistake that you just can’t make at this stage.
And just like that, you have the recipe for your second-ranked loss in Orlando in the last three seasons.
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