Moments That Popped: UCF 81, No. 17 Kansas 75

Kansas basketball coach Bill Self said before Saturday's game — the Jayhawks' first in 12 days — that one of the big things he hoped for was to see his guys show up ready to play and ready to have fun.

At times they did. Some didn't. And when the 40 minutes in Orlando was finished, the 17th-ranked Jayhawks were on the wrong end of an 81-75 loss and another court-storming in Orlando.

For all of his greatness in the second half — he scored 20 points and helped will KU back into the game — Melvin Council Jr.'s big blunder of fouling Riley Kugel on a layup with the Knights up 2 turned a one-possession game and a guaranteed chance to tie into a two-possession game and pretty hopeless situation for the Jayhawks.

Those are the types of things that can't happen if you want to contend in the Big 12 Conference, and this team, for all of its heart, appears to have a long way to go before it can feel competitive with the top of the loaded Big 12.

Oh, and, in case you weren't aware (and I know you were), it appears that we're also nowhere near any closer to seeing things change with the Darryn Peterson situation.

He was back on Saturday. He did start and score 26 points. But he played just 5 minutes in the 2nd half and wasn't out there when the game was hanging in the balance.

The loss was just the second in the last 35 conference openers for Kansas and it dropped the Jayhawks to 10-4 overall and 0-1 in Big 12 play.

Next up: KU will return home to take on TCU on Tuesday night at Allen Fieldhouse. Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m. on ESPN.

Here's a look back and some of Saturday's action from Orlando.

LIKES

• DP on one right away - Yes, Peterson was back in the starting lineup, and he wasted no time getting after it, attempting 8 shots in the game's first 5:20 to put up 11 points on his way to 23 points at the break. You liked to see him look comfortable and play aggressive, but it's worth noting that it did come at the expense of some of KU's balance and aggressiveness from other dudes on the floor. Still, he was brought here to get buckets and he did plenty of that in the first half, while also blocking shots, grabbing boards and looking, all in all, like the player we've been told he is. But then the 2nd half arrived and DP spent most of his time on the bench the rest of the way, adding to the already-overflowing frustration surrounding his availability and performance/production.

• Flory with 4 fouls - Give the big fella serious credit for his work in this one after picking up his 4th foul. He got foul No. 4 at the 8:48 mark of the 2nd half and went to the bench 29 seconds later. He stayed there for about 3 minutes and then checked back in for the final 5:37, playing all of that without picking up the 5th foul. It didn't lead to a KU win, but it was important and he made some big plays on both ends even while burdened with those four fouls and the threat of disqualification looming on every possession.

• Council finally clicks - He didn't do much at all in the first half — maybe because of a little foul trouble — but he flipped the switch quickly in the second half and found that gear that we saw him engage throughout most of the non-conference portion of the Jayhawks' schedule. It came at a crucial time, too, as the Jayhawks needed someone else to operate as a reliable second scorer to Peterson. It wasn't just Council's points that mattered as much as the way he got them. He used his first step to blow by defenders and get to the rim. And then he stepped into a rhythm 3-pointer (don't look, NC State!) to pick up 12 points in the first 7 minutes of Saturday's 2nd half. That helped KU tied the game at 56 midway through the 2nd half.

• Elmarko the good - As opposed to Elmarko the bad. The big difference between the two is decisiveness. Jackson doesn't offer much when he's out there playing passive and not looking to attack. When he does, however, he has the ability to finish tough plays and get to the rim as well as almost anybody on this roster. He doesn't do it enough. And part of the reason for that is the fact that his minutes are often limited because of mistakes elsewhere. But there's something to unlock there and KU needs to find it in a hurry, especially if they're going to play without Peterson for big chunks of the rest of the season. Jackson played just 11 minutes in this one — even with DP sitting for most of the second half — and finished with 2 points, 2 turnovers and 2 assists.

DISLIKES

• Council's 2 fouls early - The first one was to prevent a basket in transition and was a pretty common foul. The second was an unnecessary reach that forced the KU point guard to go to the bench at the 16:06 mark of the first half. That second foul took him out of the first half from a mental standpoint and may have really hurt the Jayhawks' ability to take control of the game instead of allowing UCF to dictate pace, tempo and flow.

• KU's offense without Council and Peterson - This one seems more than a little obvious, but boy was it on display in the first half of this one. With Peterson sitting to catch a breather and Council on the bench with 2 fouls, the KU offense looked lost and struggled to get anything going anywhere on the floor. Jamari McDowell bailed them out with a late-clock 3-pointer on one possession, but the rest of the Jayhawks out there with him found little or nothing in the way of points, efficiency, challenges for UCF and more. One of these guys has to be on the floor at all times.

• UCF's 1st-half offense - The Knights got whatever they wanted in the first half after about the first 6 or 7 minutes and raced out to a 44-41 lead at the break. Self's never been too comfortable with teams scoring nearly 50 points in a half against his defense, and that should be particularly true with this defense, which has been one of Self's best in a while and entered the game ranked No. 6 nationally in defensive efficiency, per KenPom.com. The Knights shot 51.6% from the floor in the first 20 minutes — 41.6% from 3-point range — and turned it over just four times. That's not only a recipe for a team to score a bunch of points, it's also a recipe for a team to get awfully comfortable awfully fast, especially when that team is playing at home. For the game, UCF shot 44% overall — just 36.4% in the 2nd half — and had just 6 total turnovers.

WHAT THE?

• DP's nightmare 2nd half... Again. - After looking good and lighting up the box score for 23 points in the first half, Peterson played just 5 minutes in the 2nd half, scored just 3 more points and spent a decent chunk of his time on the bench down at the end working on his legs, by himself, with trainers and with managers. It's an all-too-familiar scene for KU fans and it really makes you wonder if this is the way the rest of the season is going to go and/or if it really is best to just shut him down and ride with the guys you've got. No one wants that second part to be the way this plays out. But KU the uncertainty is a lot to handle and it's tough for a team — any team — to find much rhythm when you don't exactly know what your personnel is going to be from half to half of every game.

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