How Kansas basketball rallied to top Tennessee in Players Era thriller

LAS VEGAS — Beating Tennessee was going to be tough enough for Kansas basketball, coming into Wednesday’s Players Era game in Las Vegas.

It was going to be KU’s third game in three days without star guard Darryn Peterson, who's been unavailable even longer than that with a hamstring injury. Fellow guard Jayden Dawson wasn’t going to play in his second-straight game either, due to a wrist injury. And then the Jayhawks threw in wrinkles in the second half against the Volunteers that only made things look more dire.

With about 15 minutes left in regulation, Kansas watched Tennessee take its largest lead of the game — 12 points. With about eight and a half minutes left in regulation, KU guard Tre White fouled out after his team cut the Volunteers’ lead to three. And in losing White, Kansas had to stare down the rest of the game without arguably its third-best player behind Peterson and forward Flory Bidunga.

But fast forward to about seven and a half minutes left and Kansas has tied the score, and fast forward to about five and a half minutes left and KU is in the lead. In fact, Kansas never trailed again after going up 66-64, after trailing 55-43 earlier in the half. Even more shorthanded than they’d entered the day, the Jayhawks (6-2) pulled together to earn an 81-76 win against Tennessee.

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“Honestly, with (Peterson) being out, you kind of get adjusted with getting used to playing with everybody, and also playing without some people,” guard Jamari McDowell said. “So, when Tre went out we just hung in there. We knew it was going to be a fistfight, and we had to do it for all of those that couldn’t on the bench. So, a good team win there.”

Kansas coach Bill Self said he didn’t look at someone and tell them it was their job to make up for White, when White fouled out. It was a group effort, with Bidunga and forward Bryson Tiller stepping up in the front court and guards Melvin Council Jr. and Elmarko Jackson being among those who stepped up in the back court. Different from KU’s two losses earlier this season, on the road at North Carolina and at a neutral site against Duke, Self didn’t think his guys were out there trying to make eight-or-10-point plays when the game was in question.

Bidunga pointed to the 3-pointer McDowell hit to put Kansas up 71-66 with a little more than four minutes left, as the moment he knew their comeback would be successful. Bidunga also enjoyed his own key moment, when with less than a minute left he hit two free throws to put KU up 77-72. All together, those and more helped the Jayhawks ensure they’d go undefeated through their three Players Era games.

It’s a win that only heightens the enthusiasm around what’s possible at Kansas this season, when the Jayhawks get Peterson back. Self allowed he thought they came into this week doubting how good they could be, and now they’ll leave it with numerous reasons to be encouraged. Players looked overjoyed on the court postgame, and from what Self said they continued to enjoy themselves off of it.

“You should have been in the locker room, I had to — I mean, they gave me the Gatorade shower because, obviously, that’s their way of getting back at me for being pissed at them, which I totally get and I love,” Self said. “But it’s better than the alternative. I think we’re growing up as a team. We seem to like each other. So, I couldn’t be — I’m going into Thanksgiving very optimistic.”

Bidunga, noting Self deserved it, added: “All them talks in the locker room he’s been giving us? Yeah, we got back at him.”

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at [email protected] or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: How Kansas basketball rallied to top Tennessee in Players Era thriller