LAWRENCE — Kansas basketball didn’t have Darryn Peterson available on Monday, Feb. 9, at home against Arizona, but persevered and came away with an 82-78 win in a Big 12 Conference battle.
Peterson, the Jayhawks’ star freshman, missed the matchup between No. 9 KU (19-5, 9-2 in Big 12) and No. 1 Arizona with what a KU official described pregame as flu-like symptoms. In the first half, the Jayhawks stuck with the Wildcats and went into halftime only trailing by three points. In the second half, eventually the Jayhawks were able to take a lead and hold on as the Wildcats (23-1, 10-1) tried to force overtime late.
“Fight,” KU senior Melvin Council Jr. said postgame, asked how they were able to get this win. “We were just ready and prepared, like we couldn’t lose this game. This game means so much to us. As coach was saying, we was worried about this game against Utah, and stuff like that. So, we were just ready and prepared. And we knew it was going to be a long game with a bunch of runs, and stuff like that.”
Kansas sophomore Flory Bidunga led the way with a 23-point and 10-rebound double-double, but freshman Bryson Tiller and Council each had big games as well for the Jayhawks. Tiller added 18 points and eight rebounds, while Council had 23 points, six rebounds and six assists. Just watching coach Bill Self and the team celebrate postgame, one could tell how much this win means to the team.
The road ahead doesn’t get any easier for Kansas, though, with its next game coming against No. 4 Iowa State on Saturday, Feb. 14 in Ames, Iowa. Although the Jayhawks trounced Iowa State earlier this season in their previous matchup, that was inside Allen Fieldhouse. KU will have to manage one of the tougher environments it’ll see all season away from home.
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: Without Darryn Peterson, No. 9 Kansas basketball defeats No. 1 Arizona