Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - CLUTCH: Darryn Peterson EXPLODES in Final Moments to Lead Kansas Jayhawks at Texas Tech Red Raiders

Starting point is 00:00:00 I'm still trying to process how the heck Kansas beat Texas Tech, but they did and Darren Peterson played to the very end. And it's a good thing he did because Kansas wouldn't have won without him. What a win. You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What's going on, Derek Johnson with another episode of Locked on Jayhawks. Thanks for making it your first listen every day. And thank you every dayers catching each and every episode of the show. Thank you, making Lockdown, the number one sports podcast network.

Starting point is 00:00:38 On today's episode of the show, Kansas beats Texas Tech 64 to 61. Not a pretty one for Kansas, but you're winning on the road. You take it any way you can, let alone against a top 25 opponent. I know no Christian Anderson here, but again, you take it and you run. And what a finish for freaking Darren Peterson, man. I mean, the fact that he did finish was awesome. Anyway, the spoiling. We'll get into the recap, the breakdown of the game.

Starting point is 00:01:03 We'll get into our moments, awards of the game. all that and more what's next for k u as well on this episode today's episode is brought to you by mazda we put that same drive into every detail wins to find the moment putting in the work defines you stay tuned for highlights and this week's moving the game forward there's more to a moscow because there's more to you so this was a game that definitely you could tell kansas was a more tired team i mean both teams played on saturday though i guess you could say k u's a little later in the day but But I think it more had to do with like the energy that KU got up to in the level of execution and chopmaking against BYU. It was just hard to replicate that.

Starting point is 00:01:43 And to find a way to win this game, finishing on an 80 run, like, I don't know, it was kind of a weird game where the first half, like first of all, we get the surprise that Christian Anderson's not going to go. And then you go from Kansas being a four and a half point underdog coming into the game to all of a sudden, okay, maybe they should win this game without Christian Anderson. And it's kind of a back and forth first half. It felt like both teams at halftime were in a position where, you know, for Texas Tech, they could argue, hey, we have no Christian Anderson, we've got two fouls on top. And the fact that we're, you know, within three is a good thing. For KU, you could have argued O Peterson at halftime is only three of ten. And it feels like they had too many turnovers and haven't gotten the offense going.

Starting point is 00:02:21 And even despite that, they're up three points. And then Texas Tech goes on that big run to start the second half. And it felt like there were a couple kill shots in there that Tech just barely missed. and then it allowed KU to kind of find a bit of an opening, creep it back to within seven, creep it to within five, creep it to and then three. And then eventually it was Darren Peterson who did not score in the second half until the final two minutes or whatever it was, minute of the game. He hits back-to-back threes, both of them.

Starting point is 00:02:49 Like the second, the first one was an even tougher shot. I mean, the intensity of hitting that like overtop and kind of fading back into the corner, incredible shot making. The second one was just like the incredible transition play, like he has made look easy so far this season. And, you know, for Peterson, five of 14, one of his least efficient games of the season ends up being one of his most notable because of how it finished for KU, just what a finish in this game.

Starting point is 00:03:17 And this is a gigantic win. It keeps the momentum going. It keeps the wind streak going for KU. It puts them in a position now where I talked a lot about this. When you look at BYU and Texas Tech, those are two other teams that are going to be contending with you in this. top whatever six or so of the big 12. And it is really important for Kansas, in my estimation, to get a top four seed in the

Starting point is 00:03:38 big 12th tournament. One, because if you're a top four seed in the big 12th, it probably means you had a great season and you have an opportunity to do good things. But it also means that you would get a double buy in the big 12th tournament. And with some of the injuries and some of the Darren Peterson stuff we've seen, getting a double buy would be very beneficial to KU. And so now you have the tiebreaker head to head against BYU and Texas Tech should it come up. because that's the only time you play both these teams this season.

Starting point is 00:04:03 So a massive two-game swing for KU and overall just this, you know, win streak in general for KU as you get ready to play next week. Obviously, you still of Utah later this week, but you still get ready next week to play, you know, two of the best teams in the country. Banking some of these wins now becomes gigantic for KU. Now, some of the biggest positives of this game, I mean, Darren Peterson finishing the game,

Starting point is 00:04:27 it's funny because it really does get coupled. him finishing the game is what led to him hitting those late shots. And the idea that like, I don't know, it felt like in some other games in the past, you know, if KU was down 10 points, he was coming out and we don't know if we were going to see him again. He stayed in there for the long haul and it wound up being the difference in this one, right? Like Donovan Atwell had an excellent game defensively for Texas Tech. And it felt like KU may be abandoned trying to get Peterson, you know, a bunch of shots more than they probably should have when you have a guy who could make some of those shots we saw.

Starting point is 00:05:01 But it wasn't really his night at well was playing well defensively. And you kind of get into a situation where you're relying on others. But then they got him to the point that he needed to get and he kind of took over. So it was a double moment. One, you see the clutchness of this dude. And two, you get him to finish a game, which hasn't happened a ton for KU this year. Now he has, you know, basically hit. I mean, the TCU game is a little different with how to happen.

Starting point is 00:05:31 It's not a game winner, but him getting fouled and making the three free throws, allowed KU to later win the game. I mean, that is a two-game swing right there outside of just his normal contributions to the team. So gigantic there. I would also say in general, like Melvin Council continues to be a stud for KU on the road. 16.7 of 13, seven rebounds. He was so good with his floater game in this one. And he continues to be honestly, like, KU's most consistent player on the road this season

Starting point is 00:05:57 has been Melvin counsel. And that kind of continued in this game as well. I thought Florey had a solid game for KU, 14 points, nine rebounds, get some blocks in there, went over on his point total over under. So thank you to cash in that one for, for Flory. So those were all positives. I thought in general, like another positive about point two, KU's two point defense was excellent in this game. Now, three point defense left something to be desired for a little bit there. It actually finished okay, like tech hit 12 threes, but it was 30%. But the two point defense for KU. I mean, they went 12 of 40 from three. They were 11 of 32 from two when they had the big 12 player the year, J. G. Topin. So that was actually an incredible two point defensive game for KU. Now,

Starting point is 00:06:36 if we are going to poke at some of the big negatives here that we were going to have to talk about up until the final, you know, a couple minutes of this game. The offense for the most part was not great for KU, which is weird because I'm looking at the stats right now and I'm like, oh, they shot 45% from the field. It did not feel that way for KU. I think part of it was because the three point shooting. I mean, they were up until Darren Peterson hits those last two threes. They were four of 18 from three. So the threes weren't falling. You're seeing Tech hit a bunch of threes.

Starting point is 00:07:02 That made it feel not as good. You saw KU turn the ball over 15 times. What was supposed to be an advantage for KU getting the ball in the post wound up leading to just a bunch of turnovers in this game. That's kind of the big thing. I mean, 15 turnovers, this was a lower possession game. Like Tech plays at a slower tempo. So in a higher possession game, that could have been an even higher number. And it felt like tech kind of packed the paint and at times kind of said, hey, we're going to put the pressure on the official and see what they call.

Starting point is 00:07:31 And, you know, I think that was a good strategy for them. And KU wound up, you know, struggling for offensively for a majority of the game. And then I would say the other big negative in this one for KU, like the defensive rebounding continues to be a problem. We saw it cost them the game against Utah or against Yukon. It has been a problem in some of the games they've lost. It's been a problem in some of the games they've won. They were able to overcome it here. It's something that, again, like you hope that doesn't come up in March,

Starting point is 00:08:01 but 14 offensive rebounds for Texas Tech compared to just five for KU. That was an issue for Kansas tonight. And then you almost give away the game late, but I guess at the end of the day, a win is a win. And, you know, Darren Peterson getting it done, I think makes it even more satisfying in a way from the standpoint of like, the Texas tech fans, what they were chanting. If you don't know what they were chanting in the game,

Starting point is 00:08:26 I probably can't say it on here. I don't want to get in trouble, but you can probably look it up. And basically, it was challenging Darren Peterson. Let's just put it that way. And that makes it a little bit more sweet, right? And that's part of this too. Like going back to the beach,

Starting point is 00:08:42 I know I'm focusing on this again. But I guess in general, too, you say, I know El Marco wasn't very good tonight. But in general, after Saturday, not knowing the availability of El Marco and Peterson coming into this game, the fact that you wound up, you know, being able to even play El Marco Jackson was obviously a good sign. Like I said, tonight was not a great game for O Marco. But in general, this season, he's had some games where he's given KU Lyft and has been a pretty good defender again. Not as

Starting point is 00:09:05 much the case tonight. But although he still ended up a plus two on the plus minus. But Darren Peterson gives you 35 minutes in this one. And it's not just that he finished the game and what he did, but like this was 35 minutes for Peterson on the road when you're traveling after short rest from the BYU game. And now you get extra rest before the Utah game. And I think the hope would be for Kansas like take advantage of that one. So he gets to play less minutes for the following game against Arizona. But man, what a win that I'm still kind of scratching my head about in the most positive way for how the heck did KU do it. Because with the defensive rebound struggling at times with tech going off for threes at times with a couple calls that maybe didn't go their way,

Starting point is 00:09:52 with Peterson struggling and not scoring to those last couple buckets with Tray White, almost giving the ball away a couple times at the end there. I guess he did give the ball away, but almost giving the game away there at the end. I'm like, how did they win this game? But at the end of the day, like I said, any road win you can get, let alone against a good opponent, even with them being out without one of their best players and one of the best players in the call, you take it and you run back to Lawrence, Kansas. and you're happy eating that W.

Starting point is 00:10:18 All right. Let's get on to our moments of the game. Game Awards, what's next for KU, all that and more. This is Locked on Jayhawks. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by Mazda. This is Mazda's moving the game forward. For those who show there's more to the score than what's on screen. You know, I think a lot of interesting moments in this game,

Starting point is 00:10:38 and we're about to get to some of those moments of the game. I think we have to go to Darren Peterson. Three is at the end of the game. Specifically the first three to me really stood out, because the second three is still a tough shot and he knocked it down and made it look so easy. But at least at that point, you know, he got a little more separation on that one. And at least at that point, it's a tie game where in the back of your head, you're like, okay, if I miss, it's not, you know, make or miss or lose.

Starting point is 00:11:03 The first three he took that tied it at 61, at that point, he had zero points in the second half. So you don't have any momentum or, I don't know, feeling good about it. And it's over basically two Texas Tech defenders, including Topin, who's the closest to you with a handout. and you're fading back into the corner. That is an unbelievable pro-level shot, like high-level, all-star level pro-level player from Darren Peterson's shot. And anyway, I'm fawning on this.

Starting point is 00:11:28 Those types of things, like remind us what it takes to raise the parts. That extra work off the court, dialing in every detail, giving it that extra fire, that grit and never-quit attitude. We put the same passion in every model, highlights make the real, what it took to get there, makes it count. There's more to a Mazda because there's more to you. This episode is brought to you by our Everydayer Club, where you can join for the ad-free version of Lockedon Jayhawks at Lockdownpodcast.com

Starting point is 00:11:55 slash Everydayer and join in our Discord server as well. So Kansas wins 64 to 61. What a win for KU in the end. And Tech, Graham McHazelan was close to being 3-0 against Kansas as the head coach at Texas Tech. But a big win for KU to snap a little two-game losing streak to Texas Tech. moments of the game or plays of the game. I felt really fun play at the beginning of the game

Starting point is 00:12:22 or toward the beginning of the game when we get the big to big alleyup. We actually got two of them in this game. There's a big one from Tiller to Flory toward the end of the game as well. But the first half one was really cool because you get Tiller to Flory and it was like a one-handed aloeup

Starting point is 00:12:36 throw down by Flory. That was cool. Cole Rosario, I just wish that dude could even shoot the three a little bit right now. I hope he continues to develop at Kansas. because I do think that'll come around at some point. Obviously, it's not there right now. But that was a big play by him to grab that offensive rebound and get it to DP to tie it at 22 at the time from three.

Starting point is 00:12:58 But really, I want to fast forward to kind of that run in the second half. So KU was down 57-47. They're down 10. They were kind of stuck down 10. Like it was 55, 45, 45 for a little, and then 57-47. And KU was struggling to put a dent into the lead. Things could have got away. There's a big three made by Trey White to kind of settle the storm.

Starting point is 00:13:18 I know Trey White didn't have the best finish to this game, but that was a huge shot for KU just to, okay, see it back within single digits, feel like you're hanging around and then try to strike late. Sometimes that's the best recipe for winning on the road. And I think that three allowed KU to get to that point. And then big to big alley-up with Tiller to Flory, then the first Darren Peterson three, and then the second Darren Peterson three to go up 64, 61, and then I guess the stuff. tops at the end of the game. If I am picking a specific play, we got to go with the Peterson fading three in the corner. The shot difficulty there is incredible. And to tie the game there was insane for Peterson. But it's really that full sequence of just back-to-back threes when he hadn't scored to that point. Let's give out some awards before we get to our stat of the game. We're going to

Starting point is 00:14:03 give our DeWan Harris National Title play to Trey White. Now, DeWan Harris in the national title in 2022 actually played a great game for k u in the second half he was a menace defensively poking balls away leading to k u in transition and that's a big reason why they came back and won that game duan harris was almost like vilified and i'm glad it didn't end up this way obviously but when he stepped out of bounds k u's up three steps out of bounds allows north carolina get the ball back they end up missing the three so k u ends up winning the title. That's what Trey White did in this game. KU ends up winning by three. It's all good. You're going to forget about this, but he did it twice. He threw the ball away. KU's up three

Starting point is 00:14:47 with kind of a fast break opportunity. You just got to hold the ball, take the fouls. But he ends up trying to throw it ahead. It gets turned over. And then he grabs the rebound for a moment and loses the ball. It allows tech kind of one final shot before the end of the game. But it all worked out in the end. And so that is the Dewan Harris end of title game play of the game for Trey White. I also have an underrated play of the game. I didn't include this one in the moments of plays of the game because I wanted to give it a specific award. So Darren Peterson hits the three to tie it at 61. And Texas Tech goes down on the following possession.

Starting point is 00:15:19 And they get the ball to JT. Toppin, the big 12 player of the year who KU did a great, great job on in this game. Obviously, part of it was him having to deal with foul trouble in this game. and that probably took him out of a rhythm. But still, if I would have told you J.T. Toppin was going to play 31 minutes, you wouldn't have even assumed he was in foul trouble. You just played 31 minutes. Like, he wasn't in foul trouble. He was just five of 18 from the floor.

Starting point is 00:15:44 He had 10 points. The KU defense on him was excellent in this game. But specifically this play that I'm talking about, it's 61, 61. And I forget who was the guy for Texas Tech. It might have been Luan Watts, which would make sense because that was the guy, Tiller was, was gardening at times. Tiller and Flory kind of switched on to who was guarding who. But there was a really good, remember Landon Lucas was really good at like clearing out the guy who was guarding him to allow an open lane for his guards to take an uncontested layup.

Starting point is 00:16:16 That was a Landon Lucas specialty at KU. One of the Texas Tech players did that to Bryson Tiller. So he was basically out of the play. And it basically allowed J.T. Toppin a free run to the rim. and there was a huge alley, Floree is able to recover and block it out of bounds. Then the camera messes up and I have no idea who shot the ball for Texas Tech. All I know is they missed it because they're cutting away to something and then all of a sudden they're showing the game again and we're seeing the rebound.

Starting point is 00:16:44 So there's our bad camera work of the game is part of this as well. But Florey having that block shot, preventing what would have been an easy two and then making them earn it, which they missed the shot and then you're able to go down and have the Darren Peterson three. ends up being a very underrated play in this game that I think deserves a lot of credit as well. Our head scratcher of the game goes to KU doubling Llewan Watts. Now, I don't know, I thought about taking this one away a little bit because Luan Watts was awesome in this game, objectively. He had 19 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, although looking at it now, I'm like he was 8 of 22.

Starting point is 00:17:16 It did not feel that way. It felt like at one point he was making everything. But I guess that that's the point here. Luan Watt's good player came into this game shooting 44% from the field. He went 8 of 22 in this game. I mean, is KU double teaming Luan Watts when he was getting, it was a stretch for a couple minutes. They didn't finish the game this way.

Starting point is 00:17:34 But why was KU double teaming Luan Watts to leave a team who was really good at three point shooting open from three? And tech took advantage. They were making some threes. Like that was a bit of a head scratcher, but they stopped doing it as the game went on and boom, KU stopped giving up points to Texas Tech. So that was great. And then my conspiracy of the game is that the Big 12,

Starting point is 00:17:56 maybe it was Brett Yormark or something, told Fran to stop bashing the officials because we never did it all in this game for either side. I thought Fran was actually good on this game. I have been non-complementary when it deserves to be so, but I actually thought he was okay, except the one thing, like, but again, like it was just, you know, not going kind of by the way, but the time that Bryson Tiller got like jumped on by like two different guys on two different plays on the same sequence for KU, he like shoots it, gets jumped on, misses, goes for the rebound, jumped on loses the ball didn't get a foul call for it um that was one where i was just kind of like really you're not going to talk about this one but then i think back and i'm like well he wasn't

Starting point is 00:18:35 really talking about the officials or missing a call throughout the hoi in fact like there was one player where boog shambi was like well what do you think about that call i'm not so sure about that and he's like no i agree with the official he's probably seen it before i think they got to him i think they got to our boyfriend i think they uh silenced him a little bit uh i was about to have a Kip Kisandirkin, you know what, we'll leave it that one. That award doesn't end up coming into play. Okay, Game Balls. What's next for KU? We'll get to all that next. This episode of the show is brought to you by Indeed, and hiring isn't just about finding someone willing to take the job. It's about finding the right person with the right background who can actually help your business move

Starting point is 00:19:16 forward. And if you want candidates who match what you're looking for, Indeed, sponsor's job, sponsored jobs is the move because instead of hoping the right person stumbles across your post, Indeed helps you match with quality candidates by boosting your job listing to the people who fit your specific criteria like skills, certifications, and locations. That's what I like about Indeed. You can get specific and target exactly what you need. It saves time to. And here's a stat that says it all. In the minute I've been talking, companies like yours made 27 hires on Indeed, according to Indeed data worldwide.

Starting point is 00:19:47 So if you're hiring, spend less time searching, and more time interviewing candidates who check all your boxes with Indeed spot jobs. listeners of the show get a $75 sponsor job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves at Indeed.com slash podcast. That's Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply hiring, do it the right way with Indeed.

Starting point is 00:20:10 Thanks yet for joining us. Check out the Everydayer Club Lockedon Podcast.com slash Everydayer for the ad-free version of the podcast. All right, let's give out some game balls and then what's next for KU men's basketball. So let's start with the offensive game ball for KU. Peterson leads Kansas with 19 points. It's funny.

Starting point is 00:20:25 There's not a ton of contributions from the bench. Like Jaden Dawson had a negative 8 in two minutes somehow. He had zero points. Dawson and Rosario and El Marco. And then McDowell didn't take a single shot. Combined, the bench was 0 for 6 for Kansas in this game. And then Bryson Tiller, who was coming off some great games. Now, to Tiller's credit, he still had 10 rebounds, four assists, two blocks, two steals.

Starting point is 00:20:48 And I love that. Quick aside on this from the standpoint of like, okay, the biggest difference between typically veteran players and younger players is consistency gets better. Like that's one of the biggest differences. But it's also when you're having an off night finding other ways to impact the game. And we've seen Tiller have two amazing games coming into this one. He did not have a good shooting game in this one. But he found a way to impact the game other ways. Again, 10 rebounds, four, sis, two blocks, two steals. And that as much as what we saw the last two games also signifies growth for Tiller, that he found a way to impact the game even when his shot wasn't going. So I do appreciate that.

Starting point is 00:21:22 But that said, this is a limited sample to choose from. Like, Trey White actually, four for six. He hit that big three, but it's only 10 points. So not going to end the four turnovers, right? So you're basically between three guys. Melvin Council had 16 points, seven of 13. He had only two assists, though, compared to two turnovers, which you're not used to see in a one-to-one assist to turnover for him.

Starting point is 00:21:40 Usually it's, you know, bonkers numbers. Peterson with the 19, but it came on just five of 14 shooting. Then again, he hits those two big shots. He had one assist to two turnovers. And then you have Flory, who had 14 points on seven of eight shooting. You only had five offensive rebounds, by the way. He had three turnovers, though, himself. So 10 assists at 15 turnovers, you're not really getting much there.

Starting point is 00:22:00 I think we just go with Darren Peterson here and just kind of, I don't know. Like, for the full game, it's probably Melvin counsel. The 16 points and the consistency of when he was doing it is probably counsel, but you cannot take away the impact of those two threes from Peterson at the end of the game. And in a game where Peterson was three of seven from three, the rest of Kansas was three of 13. So we'll go with Darren Peterson, gets the offensive game ball. The defensive game ball for KU, so you get a block from Melvin Council. You get two blocks, two steals from Bryson, Tiller, two steals from Darren Peterson,

Starting point is 00:22:31 two blocks from Flory Budunga. I think in general, I just want to give it to the KU front court. Again, you're getting, you know, even though it wasn't a great defensive rebound game for KU, I mean, Tiller and Bedunga had 17 defensive rebounds. That was more than half of KU's defensive rebounds. I think some of the offensive rebounds you gave up, actually a good chunk were long rebounds that KU's guards probably could have gotten a little bit more. Maybe, I mean, maybe you could argue Tiller and Benonga should have had even more rebounds, but still, you're looking at that. You're looking at four combined blocks, two combined steals.

Starting point is 00:23:06 You're looking at slowing down JT. Topin to five of 18 from the floor. And like I said, even though at times it felt like LeWan Watts was like making everything, he still went just eight of 22. So if you combine Watts with Topin, the Texas Tech front court went a combined 13 of 40. And then you look at the standpoint of Texas Tech in this game, did not shoot well from two point range. So I think I would just give it to Flore and Tiller combined. They both had some key blocks. They both had some key moments defensively guarding Toppin at different points. So I think the KU front line defensive game ball and then our overall game ball.

Starting point is 00:23:42 Yeah, that one we still got to give to Darren Peterson when you're looking at the made shot. Maybe if we want to just get more guys involved, they'll do Melvin Council offensive game ball, front court gets the defensive game ball, Peterson gets the overall game ball for KU. So what's next for Kansas? So they are going to be back at home on Saturday, taking on Utah. There'll be heavy favorites in that game. Utah's not been very good, but you can't, you know, sleep on it too because it's not like, you know, Utah is not going to be the worst team you play in the world. But just take care of – I mean, you lost to Utah last year, so that should get your attention on its own. But take your advantage of that one.

Starting point is 00:24:17 Get everybody out. Like take care of that game to a significant point that you can rest your bigger players and allow some of the younger guys to get in there, right? Allow Colorsario to try to hit a three and get some confidence, you know? And then it is that huge week, Arizona at home and then at Iowa State. Now that you have, we talked a little bit about this, coming into this five game stretch, started with the BYU game, carried into this one. and then those next three games.

Starting point is 00:24:45 We said, could you go three and two, that that would set you up for a solid five-game stretch here? Well, now that you won the Texas Tech and the BYU games, you got to be thinking, let's try to go four and one. You know, beat Utah and then split that next week, right? That would be great for KU if you were able to get that done. But the importance of winning this one is it does put you in the driver's seat to at least get to that three and two by being favored in that game against Utah.

Starting point is 00:25:10 So we'll be back later this week to preview that game. We've got some KU football content, out later this week as well and we'll have more KU basketball. I think we're going to update our player power rankings, which certainly be interesting now because I think coming into the night, Darren Peterson only had like 40 more minutes played than Corrosario, but every time he's out there, he's just on another level. So where do we rank him? We'll find out when we do that episode coming up as well. I'd that'll do it for this episode of Lockdown Jayhawks. You can find our show anywhere you get your podcast, including on our YouTube page. You can like and subscribe to the show.

Starting point is 00:25:40 See you next time on LOJ.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - CLUTCH: Darryn Peterson EXPLODES in Final Moments to Lead Kansas Jayhawks at Texas Tech Red Raiders

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.