Kansas Jayhawks guard Darrin Peterson (22) shoots the ball against Kansas State Wildcats guard David Castillo (10) during the Sunflower Showdown game Saturday, March 7, 2026, in Lawrence, Kansas. No. 14 Kansas is rested and ready to use this week’s Big 12 Tournament as preparation for the NCAA Tournament.
It won’t be easy when the third-seeded Jayhawks face sixth-seeded TCU, perhaps the conference’s hottest team, on Thursday in the Big 12 quarterfinal nightcap in Kansas City, Missouri.
Kansas (22-9) ended the regular season with its second straight loss with a 104-85 win over rival Kansas State on Saturday. Despite this, the Jayhawks have lost four of their last seven games after more than a month of losing streak, winning eight straight from January 13 to February 9.
TCU (22-10) won its sixth straight game with a 95-88 win over Oklahoma State in its tournament opener Wednesday. That tied top seed Arizona for the longest Big 12 winning streak.
Regardless of how this rematch plays out, both teams will be in the NCAA Tournament. However, Kansas is projected to be much higher (4 seed in ESPN’s latest update) than TCU (projected 9 seed) despite their similar records.
The Jayhawks have had a string of wins at a high level, including over then-No. 1 Arizona, then-No. Second place is Iowa and fifth place is Houston.
They are also getting their most consistent availability of the season from star freshman guard Darryn Peterson.
Peterson, who is averaging a team-high 19.9 points per game, missed 11 regular season games due to a variety of issues, including quad, hamstring and ankle injuries. He was spotted checking himself out during the game, leading to outside questions about whether he’s looking to the NBA as a projected top-three pick in this year’s draft.
But he faced a corner health-wise, playing in each of Kansas’ final seven regular season games. And he capped off his best game yet, hitting 10 of 15 shots and scoring 27 points in the Kansas State win, his most points since Jan. 6.
“It feels good,” Peterson said. “If you ask me, it’s perfect timing to be in the Big 12 tournament and the NCAA. It’s probably the best feeling I’ve had this year.”
Kansas coach Bill Self added, “This is without a doubt the best move he’s made all year.”
The Horned Frogs, who were firmly on the bubble before closing out the regular season with five straight wins, had to work for a win against Oklahoma State. They trailed by 10 with 13:48 left and by 5 with 6:32 left before closing the game on a 22-10 run.
A career-high 26 points from leading scorer David Punch (14.0 ppg) sealed TCU’s comeback bid. Punch made 9 of 14 shots, complemented by Xavier Edmonds’ sixth double-double (14 points, 11 rebounds) in the last eight games.
The Horned Frogs, ranked 12th in shooting percentage in the Big 12, recorded a winning percentage of 50.7%. This is the third time they have made more than half of their field goal attempts against a conference opponent and the first since Jan. 24 against Baylor.
TCU and Kansas met in early January in each team’s second conference game. The Jayhawks won 104-100 in overtime over the visiting Horned Frogs behind Peterson’s career-high 32 points.
“We played hard, but we were a much better team than we were,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said of the previous matchup. “I think it was a good experience. I wouldn’t say it was a good experience, but a learning experience.”
–Field level media
