Bill Self Downplays Challenge Of Kansas Playing Without Darryn Peterson

Kansas is in a second-place tie and projected as a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament with three regular season games remaining.

There have been better Kansas teams from a rankings and standings perspective. But what this team has done is especially impressive considering Darryn Peterson –– the Jayhawks' leading scorer on a per-game basis and the potential No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft –– has missed 11 full games.

Ahead of Saturday's game at No. 2 Arizona, Kansas coach Bill Self was asked how he's kept things headed in the right direction despite facing several challenges this season. Peterson wasn't directly named, but it was obviously inferred by the question's phrasing and Self's answer.

And perhaps surprisingly, Self downplayed the idea that this season has been significantly more challenging than previous ones.

"You know what, I look at it a little differently," Self said. "I think every staff has their challenges throughout the year. Ours, in many ways, have become more notable from a media standpoint. I don't know that it's been more challenging than just about every other year. It's just that it's not as public, what the challenges are."

"So, I love this team. One thing about this team that minimizes the so-called challenges is that they all like each other, and they're fun to be around. There have been some teams that maybe they weren't as much fun to be around that we didn't talk about publicly, but that creates chemistry and that creates other things that are challenges. But this team really does like each other. I don't see this as being a bigger challenge than other years. It's just whatever our challenges have been, they've been fairly well documented."

Part of the reason Kansas is in a good position despite being without Peterson for 11 games is the improvement of others.

Perhaps the best example is Flory Bidunga, who taken a major leap in his sophomore season. He's averaging nearly 10 more points per game than last season and developed into an elite shot blocker.

Along with Tre White, Melvin Council, Bryson Tiller, Jamari McDowell and Elmarko Jackson, a case could be made that each player is better in late February than they were in November. That doesn't always happen with every team, and it's a big reason Kansas has been able to overcome the occasional absence of Peterson and still put itself in position to make an NCAA Tournament run.

Self knew this group was capable of success from the start, but he didn't necssarily anticipate the path the Jayhawks have taken to get to where they are now.

"I had high expectations for this bunch. I don't know that I expected the collective group to maybe improve as much individually as what a lot of them have, or all of them have. I still think the high expectations that I had before the season are 100% still in play. But are we there yet? No, we're not there yet."

One way Kansas could get there is the full availability of Peterson the rest of the way. That's been the case of late, as he logged 32 minutes against Cincinnati and 30 against Houston.

Kansas has overcome his absence at times, but winning Saturday at No. 2 Arizona likely requires Peterson at –– or close to –– his best.