Darrin Peterson wins a duel against AJ Dibants… before exiting with an injury!
Under the watchful eye of Sam Presti, among a crowd of other major NBA decision-makers (Kevin Pritchard of the Pacers, Sean Marks of the Nets, Brian Wright of the Spurs) who could not afford to miss this matchup of the potential future No. 1 pick in the 2026 draft, Darrin Peterson (18 points) and Kansas won AJ Dibants (17 points) and Brigham Young University (90-82), for the JayHawks’ fifth straight win.
The only problem? After a first half in favor of Kansas, which led with 20 points at the break (53-33) and Peterson, the author of 18 points on almost perfect shooting, including a huge dunk on two BIU players, the young guard had to leave his partners due to new physical discomfort (while his ankle and his shoulder blade were already limited to matches this season1). Played 3 minutes in the 2nd half.
Conversely, after a very shy first half ending with just 7 points – even though he was coming off a game-high 43 points against Utah, Dibanca played an active role in his team’s comeback, going from -21 to -4 with 1:30 left in the game. With 17 points on 6/12 shooting, and as many turnovers (2) as rebounds and cumulative assists (1+1), he still did not impress. Unlike his teammate Richie Saunders, who used the spotlight to play his best game of the year, with 33 points and 10 rebounds.
2026-02-01 11:00:00
