Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - NIGHTMARE: Kansas LOSES, Darryn Peterson Hurt Again or Minutes Restriction in Big 12 Opener?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Kansas lost. The defense looked bad. More Darren Peterson drama. This was about as bad of an opener for 2026 as you could imagine for KU. 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 here. This is Locked on Jayhawks. Thanks for making it your first listen every day. And thank you to the everydayers catching each and every episode of the show. Thank you for making the locked on podcast network now the number one sports podcast network. And on today's edition of the show, we're breaking down KU's lost to UCF. What went wrong?

Starting point is 00:00:43 What's going on with Darren Peterson? We're getting to some of our game awards. What's next for KU? As this certainly changes some of the precipice of what exactly is your target goal for this team this year. And today's episode of the show is brought to you by Fandual Sportsbook with Fandual Sportsbook. If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fanduel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. So KU falls 81 to 75 to UCF. It was a game that they couldn't really stop UCF. Like defensively, it was probably KU's worst game of the season, especially when you consider the opponent. UCF has a good offense, but the other game you could argue would be the North Carolina game.

Starting point is 00:01:22 I think Carolina is better than UCF. So the defense wasn't very good. You had basically a tail of two halves in terms of, One half, it was all Darren Peterson. One half it was all Melvin Council. And then you got a little bit from Trey White in both halves. And everybody else kind of struggled on offense. Darren Peterson had the injury thing.

Starting point is 00:01:39 Bryson Tiller had a really bad performance for KU. And you didn't really get anything from the bench. You had a brief and one that was missed free throw from a Marco. You had a three in the early going from Jamari McDowell. That was basically it for the other contributions off the bench for KU and this one. So this was about as bad as you could have because about his worst nightmare. as you could have for the opener for KU in every facet, right? You had a good run at the end, which did chance to win the game

Starting point is 00:02:06 and made it not look as bad, but bad on defense, which is supposed to be this team's calling card. Peterson either got hurt again or there's stuff going on. We'll get into that in a moment here, couldn't finish the game. Just a lot there. You ended up in a situation where you even had to play Cis Calderon, who had come in less than 50 minutes played this year, had to play in key moments of this game.

Starting point is 00:02:29 in a game that had a chance to kind of set the tone for KU and the Big 12 portion of the season. And so kind of ponder this for a second. And I'll be right back to it to finish out this segment. But what is this team? How good are they? Is this going to be even a top five in the NCAA tournament? It's just sad too because it feels like the almost like the expectation. It was almost like an unfair expectation for so long under Bill South for like even one loss,

Starting point is 00:02:55 even like two losses was like, oh, what is going on? And like now you look back to it. And it almost over these past couple years has felt almost normalized KU losing a basketball game, which is not how it's supposed to be for this program. I tweeted this out too. So from 2003 to 2004, so basically if you say from, if you want to call it the 04 big 12 season through the 2017 big 12 seasons. So that's what, 14 seasons of action. Kansas lost one of their first two big 12 games just one time during those first 14 Bill self seasons.

Starting point is 00:03:26 Yet from the 2018 big 12 season through now the 2020. six big 12 seasons so that's what nine seasons it's happened six times i i can't understand i mean some of it's conference realignment conference is getting tougher some of it is ku hasn't been as good especially recently like this just keeps happening and it is unfortunate that we're getting to this point where it's just like okay well they lost but they they did some good things and it's like that's not that's not supposed to be the kansas basketball mantra right and so like i can have an understanding a few times in a season but like now it's gotten to the point where it's like no you got to win the games right um so i guess

Starting point is 00:03:59 biggest, I don't know, let's start biggest negatives. They lost the game, so we'll start there. Number one is just that you lost the game, right? The impact of the loss is pretty critical for KU. We detailed in a roadmap episode, you needed to go at least five and two, if not six and one in their first seven games if they want to be in a position to finish top four in the conference. And I guess theoretically, you could finish sixth in the big 12 this year and you'll still

Starting point is 00:04:22 probably get like, I don't know, succeed in the NCAA tournament. And you'll still be a decent team. But like, again, that's not the goal of Kansas basketball. The goal is to win championships. The goal is to make final fours, right? And to set you up for success there. And being set up for success would involve being top four seed in the Big 12th, because that gets a double by in the Big 12th tournament.

Starting point is 00:04:38 And that means that at most you're playing three games in three days. And especially with the Peterson issues, you don't have to be playing as many games as possible there. And it also means your resume would be better and we'll put you on a better shot to do all these things that you want to do. And now you're behind the eight ball that you're basically in a situation where it's like, if you want to get to that five and two or six and one in the first, seven games. Okay, now you've basically lost your, your margin for error and good luck,

Starting point is 00:05:05 because you still have a couple other road venues that you've struggled with in recent years, like K-State and West Virginia. You still play Iowa State at home and Baylor at home with James Naji, right? So that's obviously the biggest negative here to me, that you couldn't get started on the right foot and give yourself a slight advantage. The other biggest negative is the Peterson issues continue again. And this becomes an even bigger issue this game, because the injury report that we saw coming into the game did not even have Darren Peterson on it at all, which almost indicates to me that like, okay, we were past this problem. Well, clearly we're not past this problem.

Starting point is 00:05:37 Now, if you do want to go with what Bill Self said in the post game, he said in the post game that this was a minutes restriction that they wanted to keep him around 24 minutes. He ends up playing 18 minutes in the first half for KU. And then at that point, you're kind of on borrowed time in the second half. and Peterson finished the game with 23 minutes. But here's my thing. I can understand a minute's restriction restricting the amount that he was playing in the second half. Where I start to lose faith in that comment is a couple things.

Starting point is 00:06:09 One, you see him at different points during the game and they're showing him in the broadcast sitting next to the trainer, talking to the trainer. I don't know. It looks like doing some sort of work on the leg, whether it's like the Thera gun or getting massaged or whatever it is. Like, and so that wouldn't be like, oh, you're just sitting because it's a minute's restriction. Why are you getting worked on over there? And I guess you could say, okay, maybe it's precautionary. But like, the other part of it to me is this.

Starting point is 00:06:34 I mean, first of all, we heard from Trey White in the post game and, you know, like, where you're surprised there's going to be a minute restriction or something like that. And he was just like, I don't know, he was kind of surprised by it. Like, it just didn't really add up. But, and I guess that that's kind of thing here. Here's the thing. Bill Self is the ultimate competitor. Bill Self will, there's games early in a season where Bill Self will play in past years

Starting point is 00:06:57 where you could look at Bill Self playing a six-man rotation or seven-man rotation in one of those champions classic games, even though they're like the first games of the season and they represent good opportunities to get your guys playing time and experience. But he's like, no, I want to win the dang game. I'm going to go with the guys I trust. And you end up with this coach who, who I guess prioritizes that to where like, I would be i would be i would believe a little bit in in the idea that okay darren peterson he sat from the under 12 time out until the under four time out because of the minutes restriction but now that

Starting point is 00:07:32 it's push comes to shove time the under four bill self so competitive he's going to put him in for that point that's where i lose a little bit of faith in it right now i guess maybe you could if if you want to believe that stuff maybe you could make the argument okay the idea was hey that that's what we're going to do we're going to sit him from whatever he came out is like 10 minutes and change and we'll sit him until the under four and if it's a close game we'll bring him back in but at that point what was the score i mean at that point was it when it was ucf was up by nine when it was like 70 to 61 i don't remember the exact timing of that because it maybe that was like bills up being like well it's the under four and we're down nine so why waste the minutes or risk him getting injured i guess we'll just leave him out

Starting point is 00:08:13 and then you go on this run and you tie the score at 70 and you tie it again at 72 and you're like oh but we're playing better without him right now so why would I mess with the mojo why would I mess with the lineup at all maybe maybe that's something you could convince yourself to I to me this reeks of of the reeks is the wrong word I just I'm not there and I'm almost to a point where like I I just should you remedy at this point you're not going to play until the final whatever it was two or three or four games of the regular season get you that on ramp to the end of the regular season give you ample time off here then you'll really start to ramp it up in the big 12 tournament and then you'll be ready to go to be a key contributor in the

Starting point is 00:08:56 NCAA tournament and like at some point and we'll see what the status is next game against TCU because it's a quick turnaround to Tuesday but at some point and I don't know that we're there maybe we are at some point you got a crap or get off the pot if you know what I mean like it's just like you have to figure out what you are as a team and it is weird because Peterson like objectively played very well today he had 26 points in 23 minutes and yet at the same point in time KU as a team was playing better when he was not on the floor Darren Peterson was minus four but that doesn't make sense he was very good in that so I don't get it man I don't get it but that's the biggest negative of the game I guess besides the impact

Starting point is 00:09:38 the loss the defense also was bad at the very least that's been good in other games for KU. So we'll see if that's just a one-off or something. I also was very disappointed in the performance of Bryson Tiller. I was hoping we were past this because he had a couple good games that they were the buy games. He's really struggled in their recent bigger games for KU. And I think in general, in too many of these power opponent games, KU's too big lineup

Starting point is 00:10:00 is disappearing. I mean, Flory wasn't, I don't think Flory had a bad game. He had four blocks. He had eight points. He had nine rebounds. But I don't think Flory had a good game either. And it feels like too many of these games were saying this. about the KU2 big lineup that it's like it's just kind of there sometimes right now i will say

Starting point is 00:10:16 just to add some quick positives Darren peterson was really good when he was in we saw 23 points in the first half that was cool to see melvin council's second half was so much fun and um how could you not love melvin council at this point i don't know man and like i guess at the very least like they did show some resolve in in making that comeback despite not finishing it i'm not giving up on this team. I just think there are certain flaws and there are certain things that they need to move past. But a loss like this to me is disappointing because it's like, okay, I'm not saying that I expected this team to be a top five team in the country with what you have right now, especially with the Peterson stuff. I'm not expecting to be top 15. And this was a loss that made

Starting point is 00:10:57 it feel like more in that like you're in that 20 to 25 range, right? And I asked that question at the beginning. What is this team? It's certainly made harder to answer given the yo-yo nature of Peterson's availability. But I think that's the disappointing part is that a loss like this felt like some of your recent years losses where you would go on the road and kind of crumble. Now, you do at least have the at NC State loss to point to and be like, okay, maybe this is just one. Maybe UCF ends up being really good, whatever. But again, this is Kansas basketball. So next Saturday, you're at West Virginia. You better win that game. All right. Let's get on to our moments. stats of the game, awards of the game, all that next.

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Starting point is 00:13:08 on podcast.com slash every day. Our moments and plays of the game, if we're talking some of the positive plays, I will say that that stretch in the first half where Darren Peterson scored like 11 straight KU points, that was sick. The 90 run that KU had to tie it at 70, including the council way up to tie it at 70. And then even the one, you get down to again, 7270, and council makes another one. That was sweet too. But obviously, I guess the plays of the game, the moments of the game that decided it the other way, you could probably point to, like, a couple that come in my mind. One would be the three by UCF from the corner that made it 75, 72, obviously. When Darren Peterson went out, like, that would be one moment that you would kind of point to that

Starting point is 00:13:46 changed the game for the worst. There was also a moment where KU was, I'm trying to remember what it was. Like, KU down three or five. It was, I don't know, kind of midway through the second half. And it felt like KU was starting to make a bit of a run. And then they throw like a kind of a lob to Bryson Tiller. and he couldn't, he couldn't finish it. He kind of caught it in the air from, I think it was from council.

Starting point is 00:14:04 And it just popped out. And that was just kind of a story of the game. It was not a great game for Bryson Tiller there. And, yeah, those would be the moments that certainly stick out there. Now, if we're talking stat or stats of the game here that kind of defined it, I was surprised. I mean, the first half, UCF shot over 50%. I was surprised to see at the end of the day, they only shot 44 from the field and 30 from three. But overall, UCF still had a super efficient offensive game because of A, the first half, and B, Kansas just cannot force turnovers.

Starting point is 00:14:34 This has been a problem all season long. It was one that we've talked a lot about and said that, okay, but it had at least been a little bit better over the previous five games. It was not any better this game. UCF finished with just six turnovers and led Kansas 15 to 8 in points off turnovers. That is the difference there, right? So that ends up being a key thing. UCF also had a 13 to 11 offensive rebound advantage with a 16 to 13. advantage in second chance points bench scoring was huge 18 to five in favor of ucf points in the

Starting point is 00:15:03 paint for a kansas team that wants to do that with florian tiller playing too big basketball but it was 38 to 30 in favor of ucf um k ue even had seven to two in blocks and that was still the case but i think for me the the stat that you would point to would be the fact that ucf just had six turnovers and led 15 to eight and points off turnovers again they won by six they won that stat column by seven i guess you could also say darren peterson 23 minutes Who knows? Our awards of the game is, I mean, very horrible officiating, I guess. But also, I don't always get fouled, but when I do, it's an and one,

Starting point is 00:15:40 except for when they don't want to give me a continuation award. That is Melvin Counsel, who he doesn't get fouled a ton. He doesn't go the free throw line a ton, but when he does, it feels like it's always on an and one for KU. He goes three for three at the line in this game with 20 points. And then our final award is, of course, he was always, is going to go off award this one maybe we call it the written in the stars award it was always going to happen that riley cougal was going to go off against k u right cougal the former florida commits to

Starting point is 00:16:06 k u a couple off seasons ago um wasn't able to end up happening for k u because of um and the rumor was a credit thing right that um the credits just didn't transfer and line up and stuff right So he ends up going to Mississippi State, and then now he ends up at UCF. And he's had a good year so far, 13 points per game. He shot well from three. But he was even better to say he was unbelievable from the midrange. He could not miss from the midrange. 19 points, 8 of 17 from the floor.

Starting point is 00:16:38 He had three rebounds. And he obviously hits that and one at the end from the Melvin Council gets him. And yeah, of course, it was always like you can always count on the random shooter who's shooting 25% from three or something. or, I don't know, coming into Allen Fieldhouse and going four of nine or something like that. In this case, on the road, you knew Kugel was going to have a big game, and he certainly did for UCF to kind of lead them to the win. Okay, let's finish up here with game balls for KU. We'll get on an offensive, defensive, and overall game ball.

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Starting point is 00:18:34 Thanks for joining us on this episode of Locked on Jayhawks. Don't forget to you can check us out on anywhere you get your podcast or some of our bonus shows. You've been talking a lot about the transfer portal for KU football as well. So some of the game balls here for KU, we'll do this, I guess, in jest, even though they lost the game. Offensive game ball. I mean, theoretically, I probably still should pick Darren Peterson, 26 points in 23 minutes is pretty bonkers, but it's just, it's hard with him missing so much time. I am going to go Melvin Council in the second half. We'll clarify. We'll say second half Melvin Council. Zero in the first half, 20 points all in the second half for Melvin Council. He's 8 of 11 from the floor, kind of just trying to wheel KU back into the game. So we'll go second half Melvin Council for the offensive game. game ball for the defensive game for KU. I mean, this was not a great defensive game for KU. I guess Florey had four blocks and a steel. So I guess we'll just give it to Florey for

Starting point is 00:19:30 defensive game ball here. And then the overall game ball, I guess we could like Melvin counsel had such a good second half, but he struggled in the first half. Darren Peterson had such a good first half, but he was unavailable in the second half. The one consistent was probably Trey White, but he struggled shooting. He was just four of 13, but still four. 14 points, found a way to get to the line, had that big foul on the three that gave a chance kind of at the end again. And he also had 11 rebounds, two assists, played a team high, 37 minutes. And here's a little fun fact. Only three Jayhawks finished with a positive plus minus for the game.

Starting point is 00:20:07 One of them is Trey White with a plus one. One is to meet Calderon. How about that? And those five minutes was a plus four. And then Jemari McDowell was a plus six in 19 minutes. So we'll give Trey White the overall game ball here, even though it wasn't his best shooting game. overall. So what is next for KU? They are going to be back home on Tuesday night against TCU and what becomes a must-win game against TCU. And then it's next Saturday at West Virginia. We have not

Starting point is 00:20:32 seen this team do well on the road over the last couple of seasons. And that was why the at NC state game was so big, but that's why this game was kind of big for KU too. And you look at the first seven games that we continue to say, hey, can you go five and two? Can you go six and one? That gets a lot harder with a loss here. But now you look at it and you still have at West Virginia, who you've really struggled at, you know, like Frank Mason never won at West Virginia. You've lost there recently at West Virginia. You've even lost at home to him last year. I'll be a different coach.

Starting point is 00:20:57 You're at Colorado, which, you know, Colorado isn't the best team, but that can be a difficult place to play when you factor in the altitude. And then you're at K-State, which, like, you know, I don't know how great the K-State team is, but like K-State wasn't very good last year and they beat you. They beat you three straight years in Manhattan. So none of these are gimmies at this point in time. And then you look at the Iowa State game at home, which you're now projected to lose by three points. This is a really important upcoming.

Starting point is 00:21:22 How does KU respond to this? And how do they figure out the offense, man? I mean, right now Kansas is 54th in the country and adjusted offensive efficiency. They're 230th and offensive rebound rate. They are 316th in the country in steel rate defense, 350th in the country, and turnover rate defense. I don't even know if they have to improve it.

Starting point is 00:21:40 Like, it might not be doable to ask them, can you be a better offensive rebounding, offensive team and steel team? Can you just improve one? can you want to improve over the back half of the season and maybe one of those would be enough to push them over the edge a little bit more and then you know what the heck is going to be the deal with Darren Peterson coming for the TCU game because that's going to tell us a lot right going back to the Bill Self comments about a minute's restriction if Darren Peterson is unavailable

Starting point is 00:22:04 for the TCU game or he's listed on the injury report for the TCU game that's going to tell us everything we need to know that it's not just a minute's restriction like I said I'm sure there was a part of Bill Self that wanted to have a minute's restriction there, but I'm just saying I think there's more to the story. And if we see him on the injury designation in some way or he doesn't play, that tells you the whole answer that. Now, if we don't see him on the injury designation at all, that would be good news for Kansas. And then maybe it's a situation of what is the minutes restriction for this game. And also here's the other thing. I get it. Bill Self got a little carried away in the first half. But like, if he really is on a

Starting point is 00:22:39 minutes restriction. He needs to not play 18 minutes in the first half. Play him 10 minutes in the first half just so you have the option to play him 15 in the second half. Maybe that's just my opinion, but I don't know. All right. That'll do it for this episode of Locked on Jayhawks, a little bit of a downer with KU losing their big 12 opener back to back years losing the big 12 opener. The sixth time in the last nine seasons, they've lost one of their first two conference games after only doing it once for the first portion of Bill Self's tenure. And now KU with a must win on Tuesday against TCU. We'll preview that game coming up on

Starting point is 00:23:09 we'll release that one on Monday night. It'll come out Monday night and into Tuesday morning. On Monday's show, we're going to be breaking down the transfer portal. There's been a lot going on this weekend for KU. Talk about the different visits, offers, players coming back, players leaving, all that on a transfer portal extravaganza on Monday show as well. Maybe we'll even release it on Sunday night if you're good. All right, that'll know for this episode of the show.

Starting point is 00:23:30 Thanks so much for joining us on Locked on Jayhawks. Don't forget check out the Everyday Air Club or Locked on College Basketball, locked on college football for second listen every day and see you next time on l oj

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - NIGHTMARE: Kansas LOSES, Darryn Peterson Hurt Again or Minutes Restriction in Big 12 Opener?

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