LAWRENCE
The specter of losing back-to-back games at Allen Fieldhouse for the first time since the 1988-89 season did not weigh on the minds of Kansas men’s basketball players and coaches entering Monday night’s Big 12 battle against No. 5-ranked Houston.
“I don’t know that Saturday impacted tonight. I don’t know what the players said, but I don’t know that it did. I think we would have been excited to play tonight against Houston regardless,” KU coach Bill Self said after the No. 14-ranked Jayhawks’ 69-56 victory over the Cougars, a game that followed Saturday’s 16-point home loss to unranked Cincinnati.
“I don’t think that had much to do with our energy level being better. I think if we’d have played well Saturday, I think we would have been the same team tonight,” added Self, whose Jayhawks led the Cougars by as many as 20 points with 7:32 remaining.
Considering KU (21-7, 11-4) was a 1.5 point underdog Monday, there was serious danger of two straight losses in Allen, which has never happened in Self’s 23 years as Jayhawk coach.
Also on the line was KU’s 40-0 record in Big Monday games coached by Self in Allen Fieldhouse.
“I didn’t talk about losing at Allen Fieldhouse. I didn’t talk about that. That’s something for you guys to talk about,” Self said. “You know, our record here is pretty good (344-23), but it’s not perfect and it’s not going to be perfect. So we (stunk) the other day. We contributed to them playing well, and they were great. Their bigs dominated us, and you guys watched the game, too.
“But basketball is a long season. If you’re going to play 35 games, or whatever it is, you’re going to have some games like that. And we weren’t good enough to overcome that game, where maybe some of the teams in the past, we play that way we were able to overcome it. Was that extra motivation? I don’t think so, We were playing Houston, a top-five team in the country? That was the motivation, just getting a chance to play them.”
The Jayhawks this season at home now have beaten No. 1 Arizona, No. 2 Iowa State and No. 5 Houston.
Self was reminded of this being a huge game when driving to work at 7:30 a.m. Sunday when he saw more than 2,500 students walking into Allen Fieldhouse for their ticket lottery.
Kansas Jayhawks guard Darryn Peterson (22) talks with head coach Bill Self during a timeout in the second half vs. the Houston Cougars on Monday, February 23, 2026, at Allen Fieldhouse. Dominick Williams dowilliams@kcstar.com
“There were cars and people everywhere. I thought maybe there was a church service or something going on. And they were all kids, but all the parking lots were full, all the stuff was going on. And I’m driving, I put my window down, and I asked a dude, ‘Hey man, what’s going on? Why all the people?’ And his response was, ‘It’s Houston,’” Self related.
Self was so awed by the large turnout of students seeking their spot in line for tickets in the student section he spoke to the group for the first time in his 23 years at KU.
Whatever the motivation of the team on Monday, several players stepped up to hand Houston (23-5, 11-4) its third straight loss (in a brutal stretch of playing Iowa State, Arizona, KU.
Tre White scored 23 points, most he’s scored in a game in his one season as a Jayhawk. He hit 6 of 9 shots — 3-of-4 from 3 and 8-of-8 from the line. He also had five rebounds in 28 minutes.
Darryn Peterson, who had no cramping issues, had 14 points on 5-of-14 shooting (2-of-7 from 3) with four rebounds in 30 minutes. Bryson Tiller had 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting (5-of-7 from line) with 10 rebounds and three blocks in 31 minutes.
Kansas Jayhawks forward Bryson Tiller (15) smiles as guard Tre White (3) celebrates a made shot in the second half vs. the Houston Cougars on Monday, February 23, 2026, at Allen Fieldhouse. Dominick Williams dowilliams@kcstar.com
Melvin Council Jr. had 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting with six rebounds and four assists in 31 minutes. Flory Bidunga had four points and seven rebounds and Jamari McDowell iced two 3s, good for six points.
“I thought our ball-screen defense was really good,” Self said. “The bigs stayed until they picked the dribble up a lot more. They didn’t get near as many open looks.
“I thought the defense was right on point.”
The Cougars went 5-for-24 from 3 and shot 31.8% overall to KU’s 44.0% mark. Houston had just one double-digit scorer. Guard Kingston Flemings had 15 points on 6-of-18 shooting in 34 minutes.
“You know, people make a big deal about … they played great, but we allowed them to play great,” Self said, reflecting on the game against Cincinnati. “That was the difference tonight. We didn’t allow Houston to get a rhythm. They didn’t allow us to get one either. So it was the best looking ugly (that) was going to win the game. And we were just a little bit better than that.”
KU will next meet Arizona at 3 p.m. Central on Saturday in Tucson.
This story was originally published February 23, 2026 at 11:59 PM.
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Gary Bedore covers KU basketball for The Kansas City Star. He has written about the Jayhawks since 1978 — during the Ted Owens, Larry Brown, Roy Williams and Bill Self eras. He has won the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year award and KPA writing awards.