Kansas basketball got off to a bit of a rocky start this season, but the Jayhawks have been rounding into form as the year has gone on. Even with the inconsistent availability of Darryn Peterson, Bill Self has his team near the top of the Big 12 and in the top 10 in the rankings.
Peterson returned to the court on Saturday for a blockbuster clash with No. 5 Iowa State after missing Monday night's upset win over top-ranked Arizona due to flu-like symptoms, but he only played 24 minutes in what was a one-sided 74-56 loss to the Cyclones. After the game, Self explained why his superstar guard spent so much time on the bench during the loss, via Joshua Schulman of Sports Illustrated.
“I think it was just probably game flow and conditioning,” Self said. “I mean, I tried to sub him because, guys, he's been sick. So when he needed to come out there at the end, I was thinking, ‘What do we do to give us the best chance to have success on Wednesday?' So yeah, that was just me making that decision.”
Peterson played just 13 minutes in what was a tightly-contested first half due to foul trouble, picking up a pair of early ones against a physical Iowa State team. The Cyclones started the second half with three 3-pointers in a row to stretch the lead to 19 and never looked back from there, which gave Self the opportunity to rest some of his starters for the rest of the regular season slate.
Peterson has dealt with a number of injuries this season, including hamstring and ankle issues on top of a recurring cramping problem. He is the engine of this Kansas offense when he is on the floor and is averaging 19.8 points per game in less than 28 minutes per night, so it makes sense why Self would want to keep him as fresh as possible when the game is out of hand.
This loss may knock Kansas out of the top 10, but the Jayhawks are still in prime position to get a strong seed in the NCAA Tournament. Self and company will have a chance to get things back on track on Wednesday night when they take on Oklahoma State in Stillwater.
