Kansas guard Kohl Rosario (7) delivers a dunk off a lob from Kansas guard Jayden Dawson (1) during the first half against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug

Kansas coach Bill Self said on Monday that Flory Bidunga would ideally serve as the secondary option on offense to star guard Darryn Peterson as the Jayhawks’ season progresses.

With Peterson out on Tuesday night against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Bidunga limited in the first half by severe foul trouble, KU had to get creative, and a variety of players chipped in.

Freshman wing Kohl Rosario demonstrated his high potential with a hard-earned team-high 16 points and five rebounds. Forwards Bryson Tiller and Tre White added 11 apiece with a combined 14 boards and Bidunga played a much cleaner second period and finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.

KU led from the opening minutes and never faced a serious challenge from the Islanders, as the Jayhawks earned a 77-46 win at Allen Fieldhouse.

Darryn Peterson, who had previously dealt with cramping issues but played against North Carolina on Friday and practiced in the lead-up to Tuesday, did not play. Elmarko Jackson started in his place.

KU scored its first three baskets on alley-oop dunks, led by a surging Rosario, and did not accomplish much else in the opening minutes, but neither did the Islanders.

Melvin Council Jr. went to the locker room with what looked like a finger injury four minutes in, and the Islanders soon got their first points on an aggressive drive by Sheldon Williams. He returned soon afterward with his left ring and pinky fingers taped together and scored on a short pull-up jumper.

TAMUCC drew uncomfortably close to the Jayhawks before Jamari McDowell drained a contested 3 from the left wing ahead of the under-12 timeout to make it 15-6.

Rosario brought the crowd to its feet with another lob dunk and Tiller made some strong moves inside to draw fouls and chip away at the Islanders’ defense. However, TAMUCC was able to draw Bidunga’s third foul with 7:18 to go in the first half and effectively render him unplayable for a long stretch of the game.

KU got aggressive and leaned on its athleticism advantage, with Council, White and Jackson all slashing to the hoop for hard-fought layups. The Jayhawks took their largest lead of the night at 31-11 prior to the final media timeout of the first half.

Nginyu Ngala splashed a pair of 3s late in the first half in some productive minutes, and after a small offensive surge by the Islanders, Kohl Rosario held off Leo Torbor on a last-second drive to the rim as KU maintained its 20-point lead entering the break.

The Jayhawks committed 10 first-half turnovers that only amounted to eight points for the Islanders.

TAMUCC couldn’t do much to cut into KU’s margin in the early stages of the second half, and the Jayhawks went up 49-26 when Council zoomed down the court in transition to set up a 3-pointer for White.

The Islanders racked up the fouls as the half crossed its midway point and KU started to extend its margin with a barrage of free throws from the likes of White, Tiller and Jackson. The Jayhawks’ lead crossed 30 points for the first time when Tiller beat his defender off the dribble for a fierce slam, and Dawson followed that up with a 3-pointer, set up by Bidunga, that capped off a 12-0 run and prompted a timeout by TAMUCC.

Samis Calderon threw down a highlight-reel dunk on a baseline drive with three minutes to go after beating his man from the corner.

The Jayhawks will host Princeton at 1 p.m. Saturday.

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