Moments That Popped: No. 19 Kansas 75, Colorado 69

After last Friday's home win over Baylor, KU coach Bill Self said the next test was big for the Jayhawks because he wanted to see if his team could take their show on the road.

The Jayhawks did just that on Tuesday night in a 75-69 KU victory at the CU Events Center in Boulder, Colorado — without Self, of all things, as the Kansas coach missed the trip after a hospitalization on Monday.

Melvin Council Jr. led KU with 18 points, while Tre White added 17 points and 15 rebounds on what was a balanced night for the KU offense.

While those were the players who led the Jayhawks on the floor, first-year KU assistant coach Jacque Vaughn led the team from the sideline, taking over as acting head coach while Self was away.

ESPN broadcaster Fran Fraschilla said during the broadcast that he had heard that Self could be back with the team soon.

After playing from in front for most of the first half, KU led 40-38 at the break and then continued to play with the lead throughout much of the 2nd half. It never felt as if the Jayhawks were completely in control but they also continued to make plays on both ends that allowed them to stay in front.

The Buffs cut the KU lead to a single point (60-59) with around 6 minutes to play and then Melvin Council Jr. went wild to give the Jayhawks a new cushion just as quickly as the old one disappeared.

First, he raced end to end after a Bryson Tiller block to get a quick layup that pushed the lead back to three. And then he stole the ensuing inbounds pass and fought through contact for another quick layup. CU quickly called timeout and the Kansas fans in the building began barking like wild in support of their favorite KU dawg, just like the fans at Allen Fieldhouse do.

From there, the Jayhawks built their lead back up to 9 after a banked-in 3-pointer by Darryn Peterson that left everyone not in Colorado colors smiling and laughing.

The best part? KU forced 11 straight Colorado misses down the stretch to secure the win. The other best part? Peterson was out there for the final minutes of this one, finishing the up-and-down night with 16 points on 6-of-15 shooting.

Next up, KU (14-5 overall, 4-2 Big 12) will look to make it four straight wins in conference play, and two in a row on the road, when they travel nearby Manhattan, to take on Kansas State in the first edition of this season's Sunflower Showdown.

Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. on FOX.

Here's a look back at some of Tuesday night's action.

LIKES

• Flory's stellar sequence - It started with the KU big man diving on the floor for a loose ball to prevent the Buffs from getting a second chance at a bucket that could've cut the KU lead to a single possession and ended with him getting a vicious and-1 bucket in the paint on the other end that pushed the KU lead from 53-49 to 56-49 midway through the second half. It wasn't just that Bidunga delivered during a key stretch. It was the way it happened - by him hitting the floor and sacrificing his body to save a possession the way Elmarko Jackson did in KU's recent win over then-No. 2 Iowa State. That kind of effort and intensity is contagious and also can become a team's identity.

• Tempo to attack early - Forget about the altitude, these Jayhawks did not care for one second, getting up and down early on and doing so with the intent to score early and often. That led to rhythm jumpers, easy baskets and Kansas racing out to a lead that it held for more than 35 minutes of this one, even though the game wasn't always a breeze. Colorado likes to run and has the depth and conditioning to do so. On its home floor, that tends to lead to good things for CU. But Kansas, even with its short rotation of mostly just seven players (Jayden Dawson played 5 minutes as Jayhawk No. 8), proved it could run right away and came out of there with an important win.

• Hot 3-point shooting - The Jayhawks came out firing and looked good doing it, knocking in 6 of 12 3-point attempts during the first half alone. Peterson hit 2, Tre White hit 2 and Melvin Council Jr. also hit 2. The Jayhawks made just 2 of 7 in the second half — and one was a banked-in 3 by Darryn Peterson late — but they still finished the night hitting 42.7% from behind the arc, with 8 makes. That'll play on pretty much any night against any opponent.

• Unselfish basketball - The Jayhawks had 8 assists on 12 baskets in the first half and showed some good body and ball movement to make that happen. Particularly in or near the paint and for open 3-point shots. The Jayhawks finished the game with 14 assists on their 24 made buckets, and their willingness to share the ball and create shots for others was yet another good sign that the pieces are starting to click and fit. One of the best such moments, came when Vaughn drew up a lob for Flory Bidunga during a timeout, just the way his boss has done it for all these years, making KU one of the most dangerous teams in college basketball after timeouts.

DISLIKES

• Turnover situation goes from great to worse - The Jayhawks had just 3 turnovers in the first half but then committed two in the first couple of minutes of the second half. That set the tone for what would be a 9-turnover second half, which, in and of itself, wasn't terrible. But it certainly was made worse by the fact that the Jayhawks forced just 3 Colorado turnovers all night – 1 in the first half and 2 in the second. Freshman big man Bryson Tiller, who finished with 3 fouls, also had 3 turnovers, as did Council. Peterson and White each committed 2. Those numbers you can live with, especially when you're a program that really plays just 7 guys and those guys all have the ball in their hands so often. But KU has to do better at forcing turnovers, especially on the road. In their 6 Big 12 games so far, the Jayhawks have forced more than 12 turnovers by their opponent just once (at home against TCU). And Tuesday's single-digit turnover night by the Buffs marked the second time that has happened in KU's first six conference games.

• DP rolled ankle - Just 3:50 into the second half, KU guard Darryn Peterson went to the bench hobbling after rolling his ankle on a blocked shot by Flory Bidunga. DP was in considerable pain, both when the injury occurred and on the bench while he was being looked at. But, luckily for the Jayhawks and their star freshman, his time on the bench was limited to a little over two minutes and he was back on the floor for the remainder of the 2nd half. It was worrisome both because it looked like he was in serious pain and because it became yet another ailment to bother the KU freshman. But the fact that he was able to go back out there certainly eliminated most of the concern about this one.

• 3-point defense - While KU's 3-point shooting was a highlight in the first half, it was somewhat negated by the fact that the Jayhawks allowed the Buffs to hit 6 triples in the first 20 minutes, as well. CU went 6-for-14 in the 1st half but cooled off considerably in the second, making just 3 of 17 from distance to finish the night 9-for-31. A lot of those misses in the 2nd half were good looks, and guarding the 3-point line continues to be an area that Kansas needs to improve upon.

WHAT THE?

• That DP tip-in - Early in the second half of Tuesday night's win, KU guard Darryn Peterson missed a floater that made him 4-of-12 from the floor on the night to that point. That lasted for less than 2 seconds, as Peterson got off the ground after the miss with lightning-quick lift and cleaned up the miss with a soft tip for 2 KU points that made him 5-for-13 and gave the Jayhawks a 44-41 lead 3 minutes into the second half. That came after the Buffs had tied the game at 40-all on the first possession of the second half, and, more importantly, illustrated — yet again — how different of a level DP plays this game at than most others on the floor.

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