When Kansas needed a hero on Monday night, Darryn Peterson stepped up-and did it in style. It wasn’t the smoothest game for the freshman phenom, but with the game on the line and the Jayhawks trailing late, Peterson delivered two of the biggest shots of his young career to help Kansas edge out a gritty win over Texas Tech.
With just 90 seconds left and Kansas still chasing, Peterson had made only three field goals. His 13 points at that stage were trending toward a season low, and his rhythm looked off most of the night.
But great players don’t need 40 minutes to leave their mark-they just need the right moment. And Peterson found it.
Following a Texas Tech turnover, Kansas inbounded the ball to Flory Bidunga, who quickly moved it to Melvin Council Jr. Meanwhile, Peterson curled from the corner to the wing, using a screen from Bidunga to shake his defender, Donovan Atwell.
As Atwell got caught between Peterson and Council, the freshman cut back to the corner. Council found him with a lob pass, and Peterson rose up with confidence.
Splash. Tie game.
Next possession, clock ticking under a minute, Peterson took matters into his own hands. He started with the ball, drove left off another Bidunga screen, and created just enough separation from Atwell to rise again.
Another three. This one gave Kansas its first lead in 15 minutes.
“Coach Self told me to go make a play,” Peterson said postgame. “The play before, he tried a play for me.
I didn’t attack. So he got a timeout and he told me to go make a play.”
Peterson did just that. Despite not looking quite as explosive as he did over the weekend, he played a season-high 35 minutes and made the two shots that turned the game. Head coach Bill Self didn’t sugarcoat it-those were the moments that mattered.
“He’s got something that I guess you’re born with and can’t teach,” Self said. “He’s got just an unbelievable ability to raise up when it counts the most, raise his level when it counts the most.
And that’s what he did tonight. Those two plays he made were obviously the two biggest plays in the game for us.”
Flory Bidunga may have said it best-albeit with a little postgame language that needed a quick apology-when he called Peterson a “bad mother******.” The sentiment was clear: Peterson is built for the moment.
He finished the night with 19 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists. And while it wasn’t his cleanest performance, it was another chapter in what’s becoming a pattern for Peterson-showing up when it matters most.
Just ask TCU. In that game, he returned during a wild 16-point comeback and drew a critical three-point shooting foul in the final seconds to tie things up.
The clutch gene? Peterson might just have it.
Of course, his ability to finish games has been under the microscope lately. Against BYU on Saturday, he torched the Cougars in the first half but played only three minutes in the second before subbing himself out. Self said it was due to cramping, but made it clear that wouldn’t be an excuse on Monday.
Peterson confirmed he wasn’t dealing with cramps this time, though Self still wasn’t convinced he looked 100%.
“I don’t know [if the cramping was there or bothering him],” Self said. “I wasn’t going to give him the chance to say it was.
I don’t think he was nearly as explosive tonight as what he has been. So I don’t know if it’s fatigue, I don’t know what it was, but I know he elevated on those last two.”
And that’s the part that matters. Peterson may not have had the same burst we saw against BYU-his first-half drives and dunks were noticeably absent-but when Kansas needed him most, he found a new gear.
There’s been plenty of talk about whether Peterson can consistently close games. Monday night didn’t just answer that question-it flipped it on its head. He played a season-high in minutes, hit the two biggest shots of the night, and showed once again that pressure doesn’t rattle him.
“My personal opinion is, it’s water off his back,” Self said. “He’s cut different when it comes to that type of stuff.
I don’t think that we as a program should put extra pressure on him. But the pressure, he enjoys.”
That much is clear. Peterson may still be learning how to manage the grind of a full college season, but in the biggest moments, he’s already playing like a veteran. And for Kansas, that’s a game-changer.