The Kansas men’s basketball team started off the 2025-26 season with a dominant 94-51 win over Green Bay on Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
Green Bay was picked to finish last in its conference and was facing an uphill challenge from the start, as a 30-point underdog.
But the Jayhawks made sure from the jump that they had no hopes of hanging around and making things interesting even for a little while.
KU coach Bill Self went deep into his bench throughout the night and watched freshman Darryn Peterson and sophomore Flory Bidunga combine for 34 first-half points as the Jayhawks led 48-27 at the break.
The two premiere players on KU’s roster were sensational in almost every way in the opener and neither one of them wasted any time getting into the flow.
From there, the Jayhawks merely kept the pedal down and made life miserable for the visitors, including head coach Doug Gottlieb, who, as a player at Oklahoma State, had been on the losing end of some rough nights at Allen Fieldhouse before.
Here’s a look back at some of the highlights from Monday night.
LIKES
• Transition, transition, transition – So much of it starts with how insanely fast Melvin Council Jr. is with the ball in his hands, but these guys all can go. And they like to. KU is going to really be a problem for opponents if they let them get in transition and find easy buckets by flying up and down the floor. Even counting Flory, all five guys on the floor, at almost any given time, can get the rebound and go and none of them are at all selfish about it. It’s more about how fast can they get to the other end and who can keep up with who as they push to get down there. Self’s had some teams that ran like this. But it’s been a little while. And it certainly looks like this group will run as well as most of them.
• Bidunga’s much better start – And finish. After a couple of lackluster performances during KU’s exhibition games, big man Flory Bidunga looked a lot more locked in on Monday night and he looked that way from the jump. Bidunga scored the first official basket of the 2025-26 season on a sweet, left-handed jump hook and didn’t stop scoring from there. He used the left hand a couple more times and then did all the things you’d expect him to do, running to the rim, dunking, blocking shots and running the floor. In 25 minutes of action in the opener, Bidunga was everything Kansas fans — and this team — want him to be, finishing with 23 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks. Heck, he even hit 5 of the 6 free throws he attempted. Great start.
• 5-man subs – With 5 minutes to play in the first half, Self went to his bench to bring a little juice back to the floor for a lineup that was struggling to run good offense. It turned out to be more than a little. Self subbed in five new players from the bench — starters Peterson, Council, Rosario and Bidunga, along with big man Paul Mbiya, who saw his first action of the game. Self’s never been afraid to juggle his lineups, taking guys in and out for one reason or another throughout his time at KU. And sometimes rather quickly. But because of the depth on this year’s team, which can — again, CAN — go 11 deep, he’s going to have plenty of opportunities for fresh legs and to play combinations that work well together, whether that’s always or just on that particular night.
• Sign him and they will cheer – It’s crystal clear already that KU fans are hanging on every single thing star freshman Darryn Peterson does on the floor. And why wouldn’t they? The dude is as skilled and talented as just about anybody we’ve ever seen come through here — especially at this age — and he’s a threat to make a big-time play or drop a highlight on someone’s head at all times. There’s a lot to cheer about with this guy, and these fans are clearly ready to enjoy that all season long. It started when he received by far the loudest ovation during the starting lineup introductions and carried over to the action on the court. Even when he missed a shot, you could literally hear people prepping to explode if the shot had gone down.
• Bark squad – I think it’s a thing. You might remember how popular Melvin Council Jr. became shortly after he signed when he talked about what a dog he is and how he’s always gonna be a dog. Clearly, the KU student section heard that message loud and clear and they serenaded him with loud and high-energy barks during the starting lineup introductions and then again whenever he did something of note on the floor. I like it. It’s a great way for the students to stay engaged and an even better way to play into this junkyard dog persona that Council brought with him to Kansas. He’s tough, tenacious, plays defense like his life depends on it and attacks downhill whenever possible. Like a dog off his leash. After checking out of the game for the last time, Council acknowledged the student section by barking back before taking a seat. They, of course, loved it. And so did he, smiling from ear to ear as he sat down.
DISLIKES
• Peterson exits – At the 14:57 mark of the 2nd half, Darryn Peterson went to the bench during a timeout and went straight to the end of it to have a conversation with head trainer Bill Cowgill. Peterson stayed there for quite a while, even as the action continued on the floor. And he looked more frustrated than injured. Peterson stayed on the bench the rest of the game but also stayed engaged in the game, helping his teammates, watching the action and even asking the officials for a foul call or two. Given the recent cramping issues involving Peterson, it’s definitely a situation worth keeping an eye on. Peterson finished the night with 21 points in 22 minutes, on 7-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-7 from 3-point range. He appeared to be well on his way to a 30-point night — if not more — when he exited early in the second half.
• 3-point shooting? – The Jayhawks were just 3-of-14 from 3-point range in the first half. And Peterson hit two of those. There’s no two ways about it. This team is going to have to find more consistent outside shooting than it has shown in the first couple of weeks of the 2025-26 season. It’s still early. And there are plenty of options for shooters to emerge. But until they do on a consistent basis, this is still going to be a question and potential weakness. The Jayhawks shot 7-of-13 from 3-point range in the second half to finish 10-of-27 for the game. A few of those 3s in the second half came from players who might not have otherwise played if not for the lopsided score, like Gee Ngala and walk-on Wilder Evers. But the shots went in, so you have to count them. Still, I think it’s definitely worth watching what the shooting from distance looks like from the core guys in KU’s rotation.
• Reminder: They’re still young – There are some vets on this team and a few guys who have played a lot of college basketball. But, overall, it’s still a pretty young squad. Nothing illustrated that more than Bryson Tiller’s first defensive possession after checking in. He got lost on a switch in the lane and wound up running two Jayhawks at the same player. Self was less than pleased about it on the bench and made sure Tiller knew about it when he sat back down. Those sorts of growing pains are going to happen and they’ll be a part of this team and season for a while. With big-time games against the Carolinas, Dukes and UConns of the world on the early-season schedule, the key will be for these guys to have fewer of those types of mistakes and to grow up in a hurry.
WHAT THE?
• No other redshirts – Self said last week that freshman wing Corbin Allen was planning to redshirt this season and that he’d have to make a decision pretty quickly on if anyone else was going to. It looks like that decision has been made and no other scholarship players will redshirt in 2025-26. Both Samis Calderon and Paul Mbiya played limited minutes in Monday’s game, meaning their chance to redshirt is now off the table. Mbiya was never going to, as Self said last week that, ready or not, Mbiya was going to play a role because the Jayhawks foul too much. So, really, it was only Calderon who was in question. And he checked in for a minute in the first half and played 8 minutes in the second half, looking pretty good and comfortable while he was on the floor.
— For tickets to all KU athletic events, visit kuathletics.com
