Bill Self says Darryn Peterson was on minutes restriction before sitting late at UCF
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Bill Self said Peterson was on a minutes restriction after hamstring/cramping issues.
- Peterson scored 26 points in 23 minutes but endured second-half leg trouble.
- Self said staff aimed to limit minutes near 24 but had to adjust in-game.
Kansas freshman guard Darryn Peterson, who dazzled in scoring 23 points in 18 minutes the first half, played just five minutes the final half of the Jayhawks’ 81-75 men’s basketball loss to UCF on Saturday in Orlando, Florida.
KU coach Bill Self said after the game that Peterson, who’d played in just four of KU’s first 13 contests because of a hamstring strain and leg cramps, was on a “minutes restriction” versus the Knights in the Big 12 opener for both teams.
However, the plan going into the game was not to play Peterson so much the initial half and so little the final 20 minutes.
The 6-foot-6 Canton, Ohio native finished with 26 points on 8-of-17 shooting (5-of 10 from 3, 5-of-6 from the free-throw line) with six rebounds, two blocked shots, one assist and three turnovers in 23 minutes.
“That’s been a concern, that his legs feel differently in the second half,” Self said. “And a lot of that I think today was just based on if I could have played him less in the first half, would he have been more available the second half? And I think the answer is probably yes.”
Self explained the decision to play Peterson extensive minutes the initial half.
“It was hard to do (sit Peterson) when Melvin (Council)’s got fouls and Elmarko (Jackson)’s knee is hurt,” Self said.
Jackson had a knee issue that kept him to 11 minutes total, seven the initial half. Council picked up two early fouls and did not score in 10 first-half minutes. He had 20 points in 20 minutes the final half.
“We didn’t really have anybody to put in there. Obviously, (Peterson) kept us in there the first half, getting 23 in a half, and the second half I thought he started out fine. And then it started bothering him, obviously.
“But the thing about it is, we expected something like that to happen. But we were hoping that it would be a situation in which I could control it a little bit better by minimizing his minutes in the first half.”
Self also addressed Peterson’s minutes distribution in his postgame radio interview with Greg Gurley.
“Melvin’s got two fouls early and he was awful the first half. But he (Council) really didn’t get a chance to play, and Elmarko’s got a hurt knee. So Darryn, who I wanted to put on a minutes restriction, and that’s what we had talked about … we really couldn’t do it the first half, and ended up paying. We paid for it the second half because obviously his leg started bothering him again, so that was disappointing.”
Self told Gurley “we were going to do the minutes restriction around 24 minutes, and he ended up playing about that, but he played way too many the first half. We were playing so poorly, and he kept us in there.”
Self was asked by reporters if the minutes restriction will continue for an extended period of time.
“I think a lot just depends on his legs and how he feels,” Self said. “He just played five (minutes in the second half), so obviously it’s concerning, but I mean it’s going to be how he feels and everything. I thought he did great. He was definitely, there for a stretch in the first half, a different Darryn than what we’ve seen even from the last couple of weeks.
“You know, the reason why he hadn’t played is because he hasn’t been that explosive. He’s a little rusty, but I thought he actually looked pretty darn good.”
Now 10-4 overall and 0-1 in the league, KU will meet TCU at 8 p.m. Tuesday in Allen Fieldhouse.
The Star’s Shreyas Laddha contributed to this report.
This story was originally published January 3, 2026 at 5:14 PM with the headline "Bill Self says Darryn Peterson was on minutes restriction before sitting late at UCF."
