Kansas keeps winning. The questions keep piling up. The Jayhawks handled Oklahoma State 81-69 on Wednesday night in Stillwater. On paper, it was another solid road win. In reality, it turned into another Darryn Peterson subplot.
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Early in the second half, Peterson hit a three, turned toward the bench, and appeared to signal to Bill Self that he needed to come out. Self called timeout. Peterson went to the bench. He never returned.
Afterward, Self called the situation disappointing. That was putting it lightly.
Peterson finished with 23 points in just 19 minutes, burying six threes and looking like the best player on the floor. Kansas still pulled away. But with March approaching, that is not the part anyone is focused on.
This is not new. Peterson missed a month earlier this season with lingering hamstring issues. He also sat out a marquee game against Arizona with an illness despite warming up beforehand. Now this.
Whether it is injury management, illness, or something else, the pattern is impossible to ignore.
Peterson is widely viewed as the potential top pick in the NBA Draft. Talent is not the issue. Availability is creeping into the conversation.
Kansas can survive nights like this. NBA front offices are not wired the same way.
