Bill Self responds to Texas Tech students’ chant at KU’s Peterson: ‘Thank you’
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Self thanked Tech fans but said they likely didn’t affect Peterson’s shots.
- Peterson delivered two clutch triples after limited second-half activity and leg issues.
- Self compared Peterson’s focus to elite competitors as KU prepares for Utah Saturday.
Texas Tech’s student section directed an obscene chant at Kansas’ Darryn Peterson as the freshman guard prepared to shoot a free throw late in the first half of the Jayhawks’ 64-61 victory over the Red Raiders on Monday night at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas.
“He’s a (coward),” the crowd serenaded in the direction of Peterson, who after the game told media members he “didn’t hear anything” emanating from the stands.
KU coach Bill Self acknowledged on Tuesday’s “Hawk Talk” show that he heard the fans’ taunts at Peterson, who wound up hitting a game-tying 3-pointer and then a game-winning 3 down the stretch.
“There was obviously a little chant that was going on. And thank you,” Self said on Tuesday to laughter and applause from the “Hawk Talk” crowd at Johnny’s West restaurant in Lawrence.
“Honestly I don’t think that had anything to do whether the ball goes in the hole or not. I don’t believe that, but thank you,” Self repeated, acknowledging the Tech fans just might have inspired Peterson to respond in crunch time.
Coincidentally, KU’s student section chanted “Overrated,” in the direction of BYU’s AJ Dybantsa on Saturday. Dybantsa scored 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting (2 of 4 from 3-point range and 3 of 4 from the free-throw line) with just one rebound in the Jayhawks’ 90-82 win over the No. 16-ranked Cougars.
“I’ll be honest with you, we did the same thing to AJ and it’s not right,” Self said. “Our students don’t need to do that. This dude (Dybantsa) is really good. They (KU students) start chanting something and next thing you know, the next three possessions (we) couldn’t guard the dude.
“That to me was a little different last night than what we did,” Self continued, ostensibly referring to the fact the Texas Tech chant included a profanity. “But still yet I think in certain situations you just kind of let things lie in certain situations, but I’m glad they (Red Raider fans) did it.”
Self has watched film of Peterson’s critical 3-pointers, the first from the corner with 1 minute, 20 seconds left to play and the second with 45 seconds left. Without those plays, No. 11 ranked KU (17-5, 7-2) likely loses to No. 13 Tech (16-6, 6-3).
“There were a lot of things that happened, and then a guy that kind of went unnoticed there for a while just said, ‘Hey jump on boys. Let’s go for a little ride now.’ So that was fun to watch,” Self said of the 6-foot-6 Peterson, who scored eight of his 19 points versus Texas Tech in the second half, taking just four shots in 17 minutes.
Self noticed that Peterson, “wasn’t aggressive the second half near like he needed to be and, and I really don’t know why. I hadn’t talked to him about it, but, but he was aggressive there at the end.
“I don’t know if you noticed the first shot (from corner to tie the game at 61) — off balance, shot fake, (JT) Toppin running at him. Fantastic. The second one, he elevated about 36 inches off the ground and shot it. And there was absolutely no way a defender could get to that to contest it at all. To me, the great thing is that was after 35 minutes of playing time, he elevated like that in a situation where he’s been struggling with his legs some, so that was great to see.”
Self also spoke to Peterson’s amazing first half in Saturday’s game against BYU. Peterson had 18 points off 6-of-7 shooting (3 of 4 from deep and 3 of 4 at the free-throw line) in the initial 20 minutes as KU surged to a 53-33 halftime lead. Peterson, who played just three minutes in the final half against BYU because of cramps, took just one shot and finished with 18 points in 20 minutes.
“The only one (performance) I can remember like that in the first half was Kevin (Durant),” Self said. “When he came in with Texas, I think he had like 23 or 25 (points the first half). We had two lottery picks out there trying to guard him and they both came to the bench (saying), ‘I can’t guard that.’
“He was great. We still won the game, and he turned his ankle to start the second half and we were probably fortunate that he did. But he still played and we were able to pull out a ‘W.’ That performance by Darryn the other day, it wasn’t just Darryn, our whole team was on-point. We all played great (the initial half). But that was different. He looked different the other day. ... Somebody says he’s got a lot in his bag. He demonstrated that he had a lot in his bag. I mean, he got it off the catch, off the bounce, showed explosiveness, poise, getting fouled. He showed a lot.”
Texas’ Kevin Durant scored 25 points in the first half of KU’s 90-86 victory over the Longhorns on March 3, 2007 in Allen Fieldhouse. He finished with 32 points and nine rebounds after tweaking an ankle that he had hurt in practice the day before.
Self said he thinks Peterson was extra fired up facing BYU’s Dybantsa. The two are battling for the top two spots in the 2026 NBA Draft.
“I don’t know this for a fact,” Self said, “but the one thing that made Michael (Jordan) or Kobe (Bryant) more than anything else is that every night he (Jordan) was going to get the other guy’s best shot every night. And can he get himself to that level every night? Not always can, but I guarantee you on Michael versus Isiah (Thomas) or Michael versus Larry (Bird) or whatever, there were certain nights that he could just get himself to a level that was a little bit different.
“That was probably one of those games for Darryn. And I don’t know if it was as much AJ, or it was just as much as the hype that people made it about AJ. And I thought AJ had a nice game. Played well, we did a good job defensively on him, but Darryn, in a very rare way, he was able to be ultra aggressive and still make it all about Kansas. And I was really proud of him for that.”
KU will next meet Utah at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.
This story was originally published February 3, 2026 at 8:05 PM.
