Earlier today, on ESPN’s “College GameDay,” Pete Thamel revealed that Saturday afternoon’s fixture between the No. 14 Kansas Jayhawks and the No. 13 BYU Cougars would host front office members from the Indiana Pacers and a further five from the Atlanta Hawks, including owner Tony Ressler. All were in line to see the duel between potential top picks AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson.
NEW: ESPN polled 20 NBA scouts and executives to see who, right now, they'd take No. 1 in the NBA Draft. Here's the @ESPN story and @CollegeGameDay hit on the top of what promises to be a generationally strong NBA Draft. https://t.co/MWTTBTNoNu pic.twitter.com/s0T03irphB
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 31, 2026
After a dominant 53-33 first half from the Jayhawks, it is safe to say Saturday made an impression.
Darryn Peterson’s out-of-this-world half
The former No. 1 overall player in the class of 2025 notched a stellar 18 points on a 6-7 mark, which included 3-4 from beyond the arc, mid-range pull-ups, and authoritative drives to the rim.
Peterson rode the wave of energy that reverberated across Allen Fieldhouse as the Jayhawks notched three double-digit scorers, with forward Bryson Tiller and guard Tre White each adding another 10 points.
To make things even sweeter was Kansas’ mind-boggling 18-28 mark from the field and a 9-12 mark from range.
It wasn’t just electric offense that kept the Jayhawks flowing, but a stifling defense that kept Dybantsa and the Cougars to contested shots all half long. It also doesn't hurt when you force six turnovers as KU did.
Now, by no means was Dybantsa and his seven points poor; the game just feels to be gravitating away from everyone for BYU, reminiscent of when Kansas took down the Iowa State Cyclones in an 84-63 win over the No. 2 Cyclones.
Heading into the game, Peterson averaged 21.7 points per game on just 27.2 minutes. Of course, his career thus far has been hampered by a nagging hamstring injury, cramping, and an ankle sprain.
For Dybantsa, the 6-foot-9 freshman averaged 23.6 points per game, which ranks second in the country.
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