ESPN got another huge Big Monday match up from the Big 12 on Monday, as No. 5 Houston went into Allen Fieldhouse to take on No. 14 Kansas.
Fun fact. The Big 12 had been on Big Monday four other times this season. Each of those games were decided by four or fewer points and each of them were decided in the last minute. That was not the case on Monday.
Coming off that upsetting loss to Cincinnati in Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday, Kansas (24-5, 12-4) erupted for a 69-56 win over Houston. It extended Kansas coach Bill Self’s incredible streak of home victories on ESPN Big Monday games. Kansas is now 41-0 at home when they play on ESPN’s marquee college basketball night.
Meanwhile, Houston (21-8, 11-5), which has now lost to three straight Top 10 teams, has lost three games in a row under coach Kelvin Sampson for the first time since January of 2017. But that’s life in the Big 12.
Here are takeaways from the night.
Darryn Peterson Played, But …
There was plenty of buzz around Darryn Peterson going into the game. The Kansas freshman was the subject of a long ESPN piece by Myron Medcalf before the game. Metcalf traveled to Lawrence and spoke to both Peterson and Self, among others, about Peterson’s up and down season. One quote stood out.
The narrative has been driven by personalities on Medcalf’s network as everyone seems to have a take or a criticism of how Peterson is handling his season. Well, on Monday night Peterson played 30 minutes. It was the second straight game in which Peterson has played at least 30 minutes after he “tapped out” of the Jayhawks victory over Oklahoma State last week. In fact, he’s played 30 or more minutes in four of his last six games. But, on Monday, he only scored 14 points.
The only benefit to Peterson being in and out of the lineup all season has been the development of Tre White and Melvin Council Jr. The duo were the biggest reasons why Kansas won on Monday. White scored 23 points and drained three 3-pointers, while Council scored 11 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out four assists. I think it’s fair to say that if Peterson played every game this year they may not be as far along as they are.
The Jayhawks can’t go deep in the NCAA Tournament without a healthy Peterson. He’s a differentiator. And a healthy Peterson with this group of players around him can fuel a long run in the tournament. If Peterson has turned a corner health-wise, this can be a truly dangerous team next month. But we’ve also said that before. Is it simply time for us to adjust our expectations and just let the rest of the season unfold? Maybe it is.
Is Houston in Trouble?
So, let’s start with the glass half full. Houston has lost three straight games to Top 10 teams, all of which can make a case of being a national championship contender. Even though the Kansas defense paid a great deal of attention to Kingston Flemings, he’s still scored 16 points. This team is still deep and talented enough to make some real noise in March. And there is still runway to adjust.
Now the glass is half-empty. Emanuel Sharp and Milos Uzan, the Cougars’ two most experienced guards, have been inconsistent most of the season. The pair combined for 12 points on Monday. The bench depth doesn’t possess much scoring punch, at least not consistently. Highly skilled teams have begun to figure out Houston’s stifling defense to a degree that we’ve not seen in their three seasons in the Big 12.
I still believe this team has national championship talent and can make a deep tournament run. But I’m also starting to believe the Cougars advancing may be a bit more matchup dependent than I thought at the start of the season.
I was curious — what happened in January of 2017 when the Cougars lost three straight games? Houston was in the American and lost to UCF, Memphis and SMU in mid-January. Houston lost in the first round of the American Tournament and lost in the first round of the NIT. The Cougars finished 21-11.
Sampson was still building the program. Safe to say the Cougars are dancing. Just how long they dance is now up for debate.
Flory’s Flourish
I must admit — I wasn’t sure how quickly Flory Bidunga would develop at Kansas. He played 16 minutes a game last season and his numbers were OK for a freshman. When a player like him is a McDonald’s All-American and a two-time Gatorade Player of the Year in Indiana, high expectations are hard to escape.
But players never develop linearly, no matter the sport. We tend to get ahead of ourselves, and we should have simply allowed Bidunga to develop because he’s becoming the player that Kansas hoped he would become.
In some ways he was the most important player on the floor. He played 36 minutes and only scored four points. But he had seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks. But his presence on the floor now effects other teams and opens space for forward Bryson Tiller. He had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. He also had three blocks.
Tiller doesn’t have that kind of game if Bidunga isn’t on the floor drawing people to him on both ends of the floor. You must find him and block him off the glass. Sometimes that means defenders forget where Tiller is. He had four offensive rebounds while Bidunga had none. But credit some of those to Bidunga. His presence opens the floor in ways only Peterson’s does.
