Well, Kansas should make a petition to never return to Morgantown ever again after this one. On Saturday, the Jayhawks traveled to WVU Coliseum with a semi-healthy Darryn Peterson, and left to the tune of an 86-75 loss at the hands of Ross Hodge’s crew.
The game was back-and-forth for a while, and Kansas had an overall solid day when you look at the box score, but this game required so much more than just stat tracking.
The Jayhawks shot 42.6% from the field and 83.3% from the free throw line, but they did struggle from three-point land, connecting on just 29.6% of their attempts. In comparison, West Virginia connected on 42.3% from three as a team, which helped them control the pace late in the game.
Darryn Peterson started off cold, but he got going before the first half came to a close. He posted 23 points, six rebounds, two assists, in 31 minutes of action. Though the nagging hamstring issue is still a concern, Peterson is incredibly dynamic when he’s on the court, and truly looks like the best player in America. The issue, in a strange way, almost feels tied to that fact.
Kansas has found ways to win without Peterson and looks fairly balanced, but whether it’s a lack of talent elsewhere, or the team just not knowing how to win together yet, things have gotten off to a rocky start in Lawrence. They sit at 1-2 in conference play through their first three games with a comeback win over TCU, and losses to UCF and West Virginia.
They return to the court on Tuesday, January 13th, but the challenge won’t be easy as they’re set to tangle with No. 3 Iowa State in Lawrence.
