Why Bill Self singled out one KU player after exhibition win vs. Fort Hays State
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Melvin Council Jr. said team needs Darryn Peterson despite 71-35 exhibition win.
- Players echoed a next-man-up depth approach as reserves supplied key scoring.
- KU held Fort Hays State to 35 points, the lowest opponent total in 109 exhibitions.
The final score — Kansas 71, Fort Hays State 35 — was so lopsided it might have made it seem as if the Jayhawks men’s basketball team did not miss freshman sensation Darryn Peterson in Tuesday night’s exhibition contest at Allen Fieldhouse.
In reality, though …
“You guys (media) can see we need Darryn,” KU senior Melvin Council Jr. said after scoring 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting (6-of-6 from the line) with six assists, two rebounds and a steal.
“He makes everything easy for us. But like Tre (White, 12 points, six rebounds) said, we’ve got good depth (and) a good bench, so we’re going to be good,” Council added.
Peterson, a 6-foot-6 point guard from Canton, Ohio, scored 26 points in an exhibition win over Louisville Friday. The freshman was held out of Tuesday’s contest not only because of his current bout with cramping, but also a “bug” that coach Bill Self said had not yet been identified.
It was a game-day decision to hold out Peterson, an easy decision since it was just a practice game.
“Really just next man up mentality,” White said. “I feel that’s our whole message for the year. I feel like one of our greatest gifts is we are versatile. Our depth is crazy. So you know, one man out, next man up.”
Council, who was the only player Self singled out as having a particularly good game, added: “Piggybacking on Tre, next man up. And you know, we can’t (only) rely on Darryn. We’ve got to help him, too.”
The Jayhawks actually couldn’t have played much better … on defense.
Fort Hays State’s 35 points added up to the lowest total scored by a KU opponent in 109 exhibition games played throughout history. KU’s first exhibition game was played back in 1978.
Previous low by a KU exhibition foe was 41 points in a 106-41 victory over Chile on July 7, 2015, in South Korea.
“Coach preaches every day how we can’t guard the Red Team (scout team),” Council said. “And Elmarko (Jackson, six points, two assists in 22 minutes) was telling us we’ve got to pick it up. And that’s what we did to show coach that we can play defense. And we’ve got to maintain and play defense because at the end of the day it comes down to defense. Defense wins games.”
Fort Hays State hit 16 of 61 shots for 26.2% The Tigers were 1-of-19 from 3 for 5.3%. KU hit 27 of 57 shots (47.4%) and went 4-of-15 (26.7%) from 3.
Asked about the defense, White said: “Honestly, any team we play, I feel we’re not worried about them still. It’s an ‘us versus us’ type of game. I feel today we came out flat and then we picked it up. That’s when we saw a difference.”
Self was in a joking mood when asked about the squad’s stellar defensive play.
“I thought our free throw defense was superb. They’re 2-for-10 (to KU’s 13-of-20). They missed shots that they could have easily made,” Self said. “We screwed up on a lot of switches. So I don’t think it was awful by any stretch, but I don’t think we did anything spectacular defensively.
KU had just three players score in double figures: Council, White and freshman Bryson Tiller who had 10 points and seven boards in 18 minutes.
Freshman big Paul Mbiya had nine points and nine rebounds in 12 minutes. Flory Bidunga and Kohl Rosario had off shooting nights. Bidunga scored six points on 3-of-9 shooting with nine rebounds in 19 minutes; Rosario three points on 1-of-5 3-point shooting in 21 minutes. He also had three rebounds.
“I didn’t think anybody was really good tonight except Melvin,” Self said, comparing Council to former KU guard Tyshawn Taylor who Self recalled as being “great.”
“He’ll be a fan favorite when you play that hard and play with pace and energy. He’ll make some mistakes. Most of the mistakes he makes is from being aggressive and trying hard,” Self added of Council.
Kansas opens the regular season against Green Bay on Monday. Tip is 7 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse.
This story was originally published October 28, 2025 at 10:27 PM.
