Kansas' Darryn Peterson Showing Signs Of Full Health At The Right Time

If Kansas is going to have a special month of March, it needs star freshman Darryn Peterson at his best.

Peterson has missed 11 of Kansas' 32 games and played limited minutes in a few others due to injuries and illness. But over the last few weeks, he's showing signs of being fully healthy for perhaps the longest stretch of the season.

In Thursday's 78-73 win over No. 6 seed TCU, Peterson led the Jayhawks with 24 points. Most importantly, he logged a season-high 37 minutes and played all 20 minutes in the second half.

"I feel good, yeah," Peterson said postgame. "It's been like a test every game, and I feel like toward the end of the year I've been feeling way better. So, happy."

Earlier in the season, Kansas coach Bill Self constantly had to be mindful of Peterson's health and manage his minutes.

Along with Peterson's play on the court, it was good to hear that Self didn't consider a minutes restriction in Thursday's Big 12 Tournament game.

"I didn't even think of taking him out tonight," Self said. "A month ago, you may try to limit his minutes to the point where he could still feel good down the finish line. But I don't know –– I can't speak for Darryn –– but I would think that over the last two or three weeks, his body has felt a lot better."

Peterson's improved health was seen through his aggressiveness against TCU. Rather than settling for 3-point shots, he made a concerted effort to drive the ball to the basket.

The 6-foot-6 guard didn't have his most efficient shooting night, finishing 5-for-17 from the field and 1-for-4 from 3-point range. But he still managed to tie his fifth highest-scoring game of the season, thanks to his ability to draw fouls.

Peterson made 13-of-16 free throw attempts, representing his season-high in attempts. Peterson believes that is a result of feeling better and watching film, which showed he can help the team more by getting to the basket as opposed to settling for 3-point attempts.

Coincidentally, his second-most attempts of the season came in the first matchup against TCU, when he took 15. That's a significant jump from his season average of 5.4 free throw attempts per game, another sign of Peterson's improved health.

"He hasn't done it at all. That was positive. Scorers gotta figure out a way to go get fouled, and for the most part, he hasn't done that this year really much at all," Self said. "I think the other game he did it was probably TCU as much as anybody. But that was good to see. That was good to see."

Because Peterson is a 38.3% 3-point shooter, Self thinks opponents are going to try to take away his shots off the catch. To counter that, Peterson focused on driving to the basket in one-on-one situations when TCU closed out hard.

Self noticed Peterson got past his defender more often than previous games.

"That tells me that –– he can always do that –– but that tells me his body is feeling better," Self said. "So that's a very positive sign. ... The best players gotta be aggressive all the time, and he's the best player."

While Peterson logging 37 minutes against TCU was intriguing, another important step will be how he responds to a quick turnaround.

With Thursday's win, the Jayhawks advanced to the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., where they'll play No. 2 seed Houston Friday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Self sees it as a chance for Peterson –– the potential No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft –– to prove himself again.

"I think 37 minutes is great," Self said. "But what people want to see –– can he go back-to-back? Because in the NBA, you play back-to-backs 12-15 times a year. I actually think that's more important than the 37."

Peterson's time in the NBA will certainly come, but first he's focused on leading Kansas to a deep run in the Big 12 Tournament and NCAA Tournament –– especially now that his injuries appear to be a thing of the past.

"Super excited," Peterson said. "Like you said, throughout the year my body was holding me back. But to finally feel free out there feels great."