LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Highly-touted freshman Darryn Peterson was not available for No. 21 Kansas against fifth-ranked UConn on Tuesday night because of a lingering hamstring injury, while the Huskies were missing big man Tarris Reed Jr. because of an ankle injury.
Peterson played the first two games of the season for the Jayhawks, a blowout of Green Bay and a loss at North Carolina, but the game against the Huskies was the seventh he has missed because of the hamstring injury. Peterson sat out a loss to Duke at Madison Square Garden in New York and three games last week at the Players Era Festival.
The Jayhawks still managed to go 3-0 against power conference schools in Las Vegas without Peterson in the lineup.
“He is very close,” Jayhawks coach Bill Self said. “He has worked his butt off, but he is still not 100%. He is day-to-day.”
Peterson was widely considered the nation’s No. 1 recruit coming out of high school, and many NBA mock drafts have pegged the 6-foot-5 guard as the first pick for the June draft. Peterson has flashed that potential in limited chances, scoring 21 points in 22 minutes against Green Bay and 22 points in 28 minutes against the Tar Heels.
His absence has forced Self to use some different lineups, and others have had to step into bigger roles, including sophomore forward Flory Bidunga, transfers Melvin Council Jr. and Tre White, and freshman forward Bryson Tiller.
Bidunga had 18 points and nine rebounds in a win over Notre Dame, 13 points and 14 boards in a win over Syracuse, and 13 points and seven boards in a win over then-No. 17 Tennessee to wrap up his Vegas trip. Council poured in 17 points against the Vols, White scored in double figures in all three games at the Players Era, and Tiller had 17 points and nine rebounds in the win over the Irish.
Kansas did have backup guard Jayden Dawson back after he dealt with a wrist injury in Las Vegas.
As for Reed, the 6-foot-10 transfer from Michigan played in UConn’s game against Illinois last week, going 0 for 3 from the floor and scoring two points in 15 minutes. But he missed two exhibitions and a game against New Haven with a hamstring injury, and the ankle issue caused him to miss games against Arizona and Bryant.
Reed has been a force when he’s on the floor, averaging 14.4 points and 8.3 rebounds in just 22.6 minutes per game.
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