The Kansas Jayhawks have played without their best player most of the season. 

Still, it hasn't prevented them from growing. 

On Wednesday, the Jayhawks picked up a 81-76 victory against the No. 17 Tennessee Volunteers in the Players Era tournament in Las Vegas. 

“The biggest thing is when the game got in question and we went down, the guys just played one possession at a time,” KU coach Bill Self said, “as opposed to Duke and Carolina. I think we felt like there were some eight- or 10-point plays for us to go make, and today was just one after another. I thought that’s a sign of maybe growing up.”

Not only were the Jayhawks without star freshman Darryn Peterson again, they made their best run when Tre White was battling foul problems. It didn't stop KU from rallying from a 12-point deficit, second-half deficit. 

“Who would have thought we got better when Tre was out of the game, actually?” Self said. “Marko played great, (Jamari McDowell) made some big plays, and Mel kind of got into a rhythm and roll, but we just kept defending and rebounding.”

The Jayhawks are apparently finding their way without Peterson, the nation's No. 1 player in the 2025 class. He hasn't played since the North Carolina game because of lingering hamstring issues. Many have projected him as the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA draft. 

“Even when Darren comes back, you got to learn how to win ugly," Self said in an interview with Jeff Goodman. "You got to learn how to make other people play bad. We’re not going to win games because he comes back and scores a lot of points. We’ll win games if we defend and rebound and take care of the ball and do the right things.”

Self said the Jayhawks should make a big leap when Peterson finally returns to play on a daily basis. That should make KU fans rejoice just in time for the Big 12 schedule to begin. It could equate to another strong run in March if Peterson gets immediately re-acclimated. 

“And then hopefully if (Peterson) takes 15 shots, he can make seven or eight, and then he’s averaging 20, and the next thing you know, your team looks totally different," Self said to Goodman. "So I like where we’re going."

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of JayhawksRoundtable. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com