Was it a turning point for Kansas? I don’t know. Was it the night that Darryn Peterson made it clear he’s so gifted he must be picked first in the 2026 NBA Draft. It’s impossible to be certain.
Either way, that sure was something.
Final score: Kansas 104, TCU 100 in OT.
Peterson, KU’s five-star freshman, played for just the sixth time this season, finished with a career-high 32 points in 32 minutes and sank three free throws with 1.7 seconds left in regulation to get Tuesday’s game to the extra period. But after making those free throws, Peterson walked to the bench and never reentered because, once again, he was dealing with what Kansas coach Bill Self later described as “cramping.”
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“The bottom line is that he started the cramping [at the end of regulation] — or he felt it coming on,” Self said. “So that was his decision to come out. And he wouldn’t have come out, obviously, unless he had to. … But after he made the free throws [to get the game to overtime], he said, ‘OK, get me out.'”
As I’ve said many times on the Eye On College Basketball Podcast, hopefully this is not going to be a thing that hinders Peterson and Kansas all season — but I’m done with predictions. Obviously, when Peterson plays, he’s amazing. But, truth is, he hasn’t played much — and he’s still not right. And until he is, and until he’s on the court with his teammates consistently, it’s going to be difficult for the Jayhawks to find any sort of rhythm, which is possibly why they were down 15 points with less than five minutes remaining in regulation at home against a TCU team that opened the season with a 78-74 loss to New Orleans.
“He’s a special talent — but we don’t know how to play with him yet,” Self said of Peterson. “And he doesn’t know how to play with the others yet.”
Kansas is No. 20 in Wednesday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Michigan remains No. 1 for the 29th consecutive day. Next up for the Jayhawks is Saturday’s game at West Virginia. After that, it’s a big one — next Tuesday against undefeated Iowa State inside Allen Fieldhouse.
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