Takeaways from KU basketball’s blowout win over Towson — without Darryn Peterson
No Darryn Peterson, no problem for the Kansas men’s basketball team.
At least in Tuesday’s game, a dominant wire-to-wire victory over Towson.
No. 17 KU defeated Towson 73-49 in Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks improved to 9-3. They are 4-0 all-time against the Tigers.
Fans learned about two hours before the game that Peterson would be sitting out again, this time due to cramping in his quad. Tuesday was his eighth missed game of the season.
Jamari McDowell started in his place.
Flory Bidunga led KU with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Tre White added 16 points, six rebounds and five assists.
The Jayhawks were big favorites and never trailed Tuesday, but they did not pull away for some time.
The trio of Bidunga, White and Melvin Council Jr, who is quickly becoming a fan favorite, accounted for 29 of KU’s 36 points in the first half. But the Jayhawks only led by 11 at the break.
The margin was as close as nine early in the second half before the Jayhawks pushed their advantage to as many as 25 points. They led for more than 39 minutes of game time.
Overall coach Bill Self liked what he saw — aside from one thing.
“We didn’t rebound the ball,” Self said. “Other than that, I thought we played pretty well. Didn’t turn it over, moved the ball better, had a lot of open looks that we didn’t make. Our first-shot defense was really good. I mean, I thought we did some good things.”
Up next for KU: The Jayhawks host Davidson on Monday
Until then, here are three takeaways from Tuesday’s game:
Flory Bidunga asserts himself
From the start of the game, Bidunga wasn’t shy about looking for his shot.
It was the first time in weeks that the big man played this aggressively on offense, and it showed on the stat sheet.
The last time Bidunga scored more than 13 points was against Notre Dame on Nov 24. He had 18 points in that game.
Well, he had 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting in the first half alone. He also had five rebounds.
He kept up that level of aggression in the second half. It’s how he posted 18 points for the game, his most since that outing against Notre Dame.
“We always like to say, it’s like first five (minutes), you know, make the first punch, make sure we set the tone,” Bidunga said, “send the first message, and I think that was the mindset.”
Promising signs from KU’s defense
Like much of the season, Kansas played smothering defense against Towson. It wasn’t exactly shocking, as the Tigers are not known for being great on offense. Still, it was impressive.
In a game where KU was the heavy betting favorite, the defense didn’t slip.
Kansas held Towson to 27.5% shooting, including 12.5% from deep. Those numbers could have been even lower.
One Towson player had no issue scoring against KU’s stifling defense: Dylan Williamson. He had 14 points on 6-for-12 shooting from the floor in the first half. Only one other Towson starter scored — and he scored exactly one point — during that time.
The Jayhawks figured out how to limit Williamson in the second half. He scored only five more points on 2-for-8 shooting.
Towson made just three 3s for the game and only attempted 12 free throws.
Area for improvement: Rebounding
Given the Jayhawks never trailed, this might seem a little nitpicky, but KU’s rebounding left a lot to be desired.
Coming into Tuesday, the Tigers had some impressive rebounding numbers, including ranking No. 34 nationally in offensive rebounding percentage (37.3).
So, maybe it’s not surprising that the Tigers dominated the offensive glass. Towson not only had more total rebounds (45 to KU’s 43), but also grabbed an offensive rebound on 44% of its misses.
Towson finished with 22 offensive rebounds to KU’s 12. It led to 13 second-chance points for the visitors.
The Jayhawks’ box outs and effort on the glass weren’t sharp, and that was noticeable in this game.
It didn’t matter Tuesday, but Kansas can’t repeat that showing against higher quality opponents.
This story was originally published December 16, 2025 at 10:24 PM.
