After falling to the North Carolina Tar Heels on Friday night, Kansas took care of business with 77-46 victory against the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders at Allen Fieldhouse on Tuesday night.
The Jayhawks were without freshman guard Darryn Peterson, who was dealing with hamstring tightness, allowing the pieces around Peterson to get minutes in regular-season play with standout performances from freshman guard Kohl Rosario and sophomore forward Flory Bidunga.
“I told our guys that I’m excited to watch you guys play because [Peterson] is not going to be here,” Self explained. “If he fouls out, how do we finish the game the last six minutes. I thought it was good that he wasn’t out there to see those things.”
The game opened with a fireworks show when Rosario and Bidunga jammed home a trio of monster alley-oops to set the tone early, forcing a quick Islander timeout.
Kansas continued to put the pressure on early after the timeout when freshman forward Bryson Tiller found a lane and drew a foul, giving the Jayhawks an early 8-2 lead.
“It’s something I work on a lot,” Tiller said of his versatility. “With my athleticism, I feel like I can do multiple things on the court.”
After the media timeout, Jayhawk senior guard Melvin Council Jr. dislocated his finger and immediately ran to the locker room, coming back quickly and hitting a jumper from the elbow to end a small Corpus Christi run.
Coach Self talked about how enthusiasm is contagious in practice, and Council’s enthusiasm has played a pivotal role in keeping high energy in tough times; the injury is just the most recent example.
“I think as much as anybody with the guys who played the majority of the minutes,” Self said. “I think Melvin and Kohl are the two, from an appearance standpoint, who show the most enthusiasm to me.”
Kansas had many chances to stretch the lead early, but turnovers and missed shots allowed Corpus Christi to hang around, but Rosario wasn’t done catching alley oops. He was a nightmare the entire first half and caused the Islanders’ coach Jim Shaw to call multiple timeouts.
Kansas’ defense kept Corpus Christi at bay in the first, only spotting the Islanders 18 points. Bidunga had multiple blocks, and the Jayhawks were able to break up several fast-break opportunities that the Islanders had.
Not only was Rosario a problem inside the arc, converting from deep as well. He had 11 points on 5-for-8 shooting going into halftime and was the key contributor in giving Kansas a comfortable 38-18 lead.
“I have always had the same confidence, I am always going to keep shooting, Rossario said. “I’ve missed a couple of shots starting the season, but that just means I’m going to make a whole bunch more, and I’m going to keep letting it fly; my confidence hasn’t wavered.”
Despite the double figure lead, 10 Kansas turnovers kept the Islanders hanging around in the first half.
Graduate guard Nginyu “Gee” Ngala, who is quickly becoming a crowd favorite due to his small size and his hustle, came into the game firing. He was perfect 2-for-2 from three in the first half and provided a nice spark of momentum to the Kansas side.
Similar to the North Carolina game, Kansas opened the second half a bit flat, racking up a few more turnovers and some missed looks. It wasn’t until Illinois transfer Tre White provided a much-needed lifeline for Kansas with a shifty layup and a corner three.
After a bit of a stalemate, Tiller caught a lob and flushed it home, bringing the Allen Fieldhouse crowd to life. Senior guard Jayden Dawson also knocked down a three to give Kansas a 68-34 lead.
After going a bit cold, Rosario found the bottom of the net to get up to 16 points. Freshman forward Samis Calderon threw the exclamation point down with a one-handed slam that made the Kansas bench come to life.
While Kansas is a productive team without Peterson, he is clearly the engine that makes the motor run.
“He played the whole game against Carolina,” Self said. “His hamstring was tight this morning, so I’m not going to risk that. Hopefully it’s precautionary for the reason why he didn’t play.
After a nice bounce-back victory, the No. 25 Jayhawks will return to Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon for a 1 p.m. tipoff against the Princeton Tigers.