The Associated Press No. 9 Kansas Jayhawks made their biggest statement of the 2025-26 season on Monday with an 82-78 win over the No. 1 Arizona Wildcats (23-1, 10-1 in Big 12).
With freshman Darryn Peterson out with flu-like symptoms, Kansas (19-5, 9-2 in Big 12) showed it doesn’t need the oft-unavailable star to be a national title contender.
Kansas hands Arizona first loss of the season
The Jayhawks erased an 11-point deficit to hand Arizona its first loss of the season and improve to 40-0 under coach Bill Self on ESPN’s “Big Monday.”
Sophomore forward Flory Bidunga led the team in Peterson’s absence, finishing with 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting while adding 10 rebounds. Senior guard Melvin Council Jr. had a rough night from the court, making just 6-of-25 shots, but he successfully got to the foul line, ending the game 10-of-11 on free throws.
Defensively, Kansas turned up the intensity after halftime, holding Arizona to 33 points and 37.1 percent shooting over the final 20 minutes.
Kansas has a blueprint for winning, and crucially, it doesn’t involve Peterson. As talented as the potential future No. 1 NBA Draft pick is, he’s missed enough games for a variety of reasons that the team can’t depend on him consistently.
Per KenPom, the Jayhawks rank seventh in Division I in adjusted defensive efficiency, holding opponents to the eighth-worst effective field goal rate (44.7 percent). Bidunga has been a force in the interior, ranking 20th in block rate (10.01 percent). Council and fellow senior guard Tre White, a 42.5 percent shooter from beyond the arc this season, give Kansas steady veterans on the perimeter.
Peterson would put the Jayhawks over the top. But having already missed 11 games — seven with a strained hamstring, two because of a quad, one with an ankle and Monday’s due to flu-like symptoms — Kansas would be playing a dangerous game putting its fate in his hands.
Monday showed it doesn’t have to. When going against the country’s best team, the Jayhawks had enough without Peterson. That speaks volumes.