Forget the fuss, the head-to-head matchup and the final stat lines.
Those are all great. But one of the coolest things that happens when players as good as Darryn Peterson and AJ Dybantsa square off on the basketball court is the residual bonus that hits everyone else involved with the game.
And, boy, did KU freshman Bryson Tiller take advantage. Richie Saunders and Flory Bidunga, too.
“You can't tell me that Flory didn't love the opportunity to guard AJ or Bryson didn't love the opportunity to go against one of their guys,” KU coach Bill Self said after the win. “You can't tell me that there's not an individual pride standpoint, just like with (BYU) guarding DP.”
Saturday’s KU-BYU game at Allen Fieldhouse was billed by many as the battle between the No. 1 and No. 2 picks in the upcoming NBA Draft. And it probably was.
But if you’re an NBA scout or GM who was at the game — and there were nearly two dozen there — you had to come away impressed by what Tiller did in a supporting role to help KU secure the win.
The 6-foot-11, 240-pound redshirt freshman from Atlanta dropped a career-high 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including three makes in five attempts from 3-point range. He also added 7 boards and a block while playing a whopping 38 minutes.
Tiller has always been regarded as a future pro. That was a big part of the reason KU pursued him and wanted him to arrive on campus a semester early last season. So he could see it, go through it and be that much more ready for it when his official debut rolled around.
Tiller hasn’t always been quite as loud and impressive as he was on Saturday night, but the talent has always been there. The size. The skill. The length. The range. The versatility. And so much more.
Because of the make-up of this KU roster, Tiller has been asked to play like more of a true big guy than his more favored and comfortable spot on the perimeter. Slowly but surely, he has shown a willingness to do it and an understanding of just how important it is for him to do so.
On Saturday night, BT played like himself while also taking care of the big-man role that KU needed him to fill.
“I thought he was aggressive,” Self said when asked what part of Tiller’s game vs. BYU he liked most. “You know, when you play a big guy the way we're playing him, which we think that's the best way to play for our team, it may not be the best way to play for him individually. Sometimes, I think he can get a little lost and float. I didn't see that at all. I thought he's aggressive the whole game.”
For Tiller to put it all together like he did against BYU, with all kinds of NBA eyeballs on the game, was a big step for him and could go down as a huge development for these Jayhawks.
Tiller said after the game that he’s got supreme confidence in his game and his abilities and most of that comes from the work. He’s still learning how to grind and put in the kind of work required to be a pro.
“It's just a matter of me being turned up,” he matter-of-factly admitted after Saturday’s win.
While he’s still working on being consistent with that, Tiller already has one part of the equation down. His coaches and teammates say he doesn’t flinch when he’s coached hard in practice. That’s because he knows it’s good for him. Even if he hates it in the moment.
“I think BT is the type of guy that, when coaches yell or players yell, he turns it up,” KU guard Melvin Council Jr. said after Saturday’s win. “He don't let it affect him at all.”
Just like he didn’t let the headlines about Saturday’s game affect him either.
Tiller knows that Peterson and Dybantsa are both elite players. But you won’t ever find him believing he’s not on their level. He thinks he is. And on Saturday, he played like it.
“One thing about having guys on your team that everybody would be watching, from a professional standpoint, it allows everybody else the opportunity to be seen,” Self said. “We don't talk about that, but I think that's obvious. “I did tell Flory, I said, ‘Hey, you got a wealth of opportunity right here before you as long as you (don’t) foul. Because sometimes you get too geeked up and you get undisciplined and you foul. It hurts your team when you do start him on AJ, but that wasn't the case tonight.”
Tiller must’ve been listening. And the NBA GMs were watching.
— For tickets to all KU athletic events, visit kuathletics.com
