KU’s Darryn Peterson outscores Duke’s Cameron Boozer in NBA Summer League game
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- Darryn Peterson scored 25 points in Utah's 109-100 Salt Lake City Summer League win.
- Peterson had 12 assists, two turnovers, two rebounds and two steals in 28 minutes.
- Cameron Boozer scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds in 27 minutes.
Former Kansas basketball guard Darryn Peterson, the No. 2 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, outscored Cameron Boozer, No. 3 choice overall, 25 points to 18 in Utah’s 109-100 Salt Lake City Summer League victory over Memphis on Monday night at Huntsman Center in Utah.
Peterson, a 6-foot-6, 19-year-old native of Canton, Ohio, had his second 20-point plus outing in as many games as a member of the Jazz. He scored 28 points in Saturday’s opening win over Atlanta.
Boozer, a 6-10 forward out of Duke, had scored 15 for Memphis in his NBA Summer League debut vs. Oklahoma City on Saturday.
Peterson on Monday hit 8 of 15 shots. He was 3-of-9 from 3. He also had 12 assists to two turnovers after dishing two assists against eight turnovers versus Atlanta. Peterson had two rebounds and two steals in 28 minutes. He had played 27 minutes vs. Atlanta on Saturday.
“My teammates did a great job of getting open. I was finding them and they were making shots. They made it easy on me tonight,” Peterson said in a postgame TV interview on the court after the game.
Of his 12 assists to just two turnovers, he said: “It was better than the last game. I cut the turnovers down, so a step in the right direction.”
Peterson hit a deep 3 and short shot in the paint in the fourth quarter to keep the Jazz comfortably ahead down the stretch.
Asked about playing well in clutch moments, he said in his postgame TV interview: “I say it all the time, I’m a Kobe (Bryant) guy. That’s something he did. So anytime I can assert dominance, I try to. At the end of the game, I try to kill.”
As a guest on ESPN SportsCenter, it was pointed out to Peterson he looked like somebody intent on proving he is the best player in this current draft class. AJ Dybantsa of BYU was chosen No. 1 by Washington, while Peterson went second and Boozer third.
“I wanted to go (No.) 1 but didn’t. I think I came to a great fit in Utah. Like I said before, it’s going to be on my mind my whole career. It’ll be that chip,” Peterson said.
Boozer was 6-of-9 shooting from the field Monday. He was 4-of-5 from 3. Boozer also had seven rebounds, four assists and four turnovers in 27 minutes.
The Jazz will next meet Oklahoma City at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the final game of the Salt Lake City Summer League. Teams generally have their top draft picks sit out the final game. In fact, Sarah Todd of the Deseret News reports Peterson, Ace Bailey and Cody Williams will not play against the Thunder. She wrote that the “goal is to have all three play in the opening game in Las Vegas against AJ Dybantsa (Washington) on Thursday night.”
All 30 NBA teams are gearing for the Las Vegas summer league set to start on Thursday with teams playing four or five games from July 9-19.
• Also Monday ... former KU wing Tre White scored 16 points to help the Miami Heat defeat the Golden State Warriors 95-85 in the California Classic in San Francisco. White, 6-7 from Dallas, was 6-of-13 shooting. He had four rebounds in 23 minutes. Former KU forward KJ Adams, who spent the past school year rehabbing from Achilles surgery while a member of Bill Self’s support staff at KU, had seven points on 3-of-4 shooting with two rebounds in 15 minutes for Golden State.
• Former KU and South Dakota State guard Zeke Mayo did not play (coach’s decision) in Atlanta’s 82-77 win over Oklahoma City in Salt Lake City Summer League action. It’s the second straight game Mayo did not enter. He’s trying to make the roster of the Atlanta Hawks as a free agent. Zuby Ejiofor, who transferred to St. John’s from KU after one college season, had 19 points and 15 rebounds for Atlanta in 25 minutes. He was 3-of-8 from 3.
