With the No. 8 Kansas basketball team losing to unranked Cincinnati on Saturday in shocking fashion, 84-68, the one positive result was star Darryn Peterson playing 32 minutes. As the Kansas basketball star in Peterson and his injuries have been a concern this season, he would speak about the criticisms surrounding him.
Peterson has been at the forefront of the program due to his being one of the best players in the country, but his playing time has been under fire, as, besides sitting out 11 games, his minutes have dipped due to himself or the team taking him out of games. Some would say that Peterson's passion for basketball isn't there, or he's preserving his NBA draft stock, with him firing back saying that “basketball is my life.”
“Everybody's got an opinion on it,” Peterson said to ESPN, as this quote was said in between the Arizona (Feb. 9) and Oklahoma State (Feb. 18) games. “But basketball is my life. If I could have been out there every game this year, I would have. If you would have asked me last year, what were my goals for this year, I would never mention missing games. So all this stuff kind of just happened, but I've got to deal with it.”
Kansas basketball's Bill Self on Darryn Peterson's uptick in minutes
Though Peterson's minutes were a positive on Saturday, as he also recorded 17 points and four rebounds, the Kansas basketball team still lost to the unranked Cincinnati Bearcats, which is sure to give the program a reality check. Still, head coach Bill Self took the bright side with Peterson's outing.
“If we're going to grab a positive out of this today, let's go with that,” Self said to the media on Saturday, via 247 Sports. “I actually thought that, for the most part, he moved pretty well…I think he was out there, and I think that was great, but that's still not what I'm looking for from an entire team. When you're playing well, everything is connected.”
At any rate, the Jayhawks and Peterson look to bounce back on Monday night against No. 2 Houston.
