STILLWATER, Oklahoma — As early as Darryn Peterson’s first made 3-pointer, it was clear Kansas basketball was on its way to a victory against Oklahoma State in what ended up as an 81-69 win.
No. 12 KU (20-6, 10-3 in Big 12) led by as many as 23 points in the first half, as Peterson scored 20 of his eventual 23 points for the Jayhawks in this Big 12 Conference matchup. Peterson, Kansas’ star freshman, though, sat out the majority of the second half. Also in the second half, while Oklahoma State pushed to make it a game again, KU soon recovered and coasted to the finish despite not inspiring much confidence in how it was playing.
Kansas senior Tre White ended up as the team’s next leading scorer at 16 points, while redshirt sophomore Elmarko Jackson had 14 and freshman Bryson Tiller had 10. Together, they helped ensure the Jayhawks never trailed in this game. Tiller also had 11 rebounds to finish with a double-double.
Kansas can now look ahead to a game Saturday at home against Cincinnati, another matchup the Jayhawks should be favored in as they look to maintain their position as one of the teams that could win the Big 12 regular season crown this season. KU has yet to lose a conference game inside Allen Fieldhouse this season, overall going 11-1 there to date. Cincinnati is in the middle of the pack right now in the Big 12.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Darryn Peterson scores 23 points, Kansas basketball defeats OSU