photo by: Aiden Droge/Kansas Athletics

Kansas guard Darryn Peterson controls the ball during the exhibition game against Louisville on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025, in Louisville, Ky.

The 2024-25 Kansas Jayhawks made six or fewer 3-pointers in 15 of their 34 games.

KU overhauled its roster in the offseason, and it could not have been clearer on Friday night, when top freshman recruit Darryn Peterson made six 3s — on his own — in the first half of the Jayhawks’ exhibition opener against Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center.

Peterson had a quieter second half and didn’t play at all late, but his teammates kept the 11th-ranked Cardinals at arm’s length in what became an unofficial 90-82 victory for No. 19 KU.

The two teams played a sloppy, frequently stagnant game that featured a combined 58 fouls, and neither shot well from beyond the arc; Jayhawks other than Peterson were a combined 2-for-11, and the Cardinals shot 11-for-38 (28.9%).

Peterson finished with 26 after his 24-point half, and Xavier transfer Ryan Conwell matched him with 26 for Louisville. Three additional Cardinals reached double figures, led by J’Vonne Hadley, who had 13; their own star freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr. went 2-for-15 from the field and scored 10 points.

KU center Flory Bidunga was limited to 23 minutes due to foul trouble, but scored 14 points on 6-for-7 shooting with six rebounds. Redshirt freshman forward Bryson Tiller impressed with 12 points, seven rebounds and four blocks.

Tre White had 14 more for the Jayhawks, and Melvin Council Jr. and Elmarko Jackson scored 11 each, largely as a result of a combined 18-for-19 free-throw shooting.

Louisville held the lead for just one minute and 19 seconds on the night.

Peterson announced his presence early with a trio of quick buckets, including a 3-pointer, and Louisville didn’t score for nearly four minutes before a 1-for-2 trip to the free-throw line by Conwell. Conwell did draw Bidunga’s second personal foul prior to the first media timeout, forcing Tiller into significant early action, and he gave up a 3-pointer to Aly Khalifa soon afterward.

The Cardinals erased their deficit quickly and tied the game on a three-point play by Khani Rooths. In fact, the Jayhawks allowed 12 in a row prior to the former Cardinal White’s first bucket, a layup for which he pivoted around a defender.

After a back-and-forth stretch, Jamari McDowell found Peterson on the wing, as the guard returned after a stint on the bench and hit a 3 to put KU ahead 21-16.

With KU leading 24-18 after Bidunga threw down a lob for a three-point play, Peterson connected on back-to-back 3s — one between a pair of defenders, another off a stepback move that shook Adrian Wooley — and forced a timeout by Louisville. He scored 16 points in his first 10 minutes of collegiate action.

The action gave way to a foul-laden series of possessions late in the first half during which KU’s primary highlight was a three-point play by Jackson off a continuation, which gave the Jayhawks their biggest lead at 37-24.

The Cardinals chipped away a bit with a transition 3 by Isaac McKneely, only for Peterson to hit his fifth of the night soon afterward.

KU went into the break with a 46-30 lead, largely on the strength of Peterson but also aided by Louisville’s 2-for-16 showing from beyond the arc and 9-for-29 (31%) shooting overall.

The Jayhawks conceded an 8-0 run early in the second half as a result of consecutive 3s by Conwell and McKneely, leading head coach Bill Self to call timeout.

KU retained a bit of its composure but also lost Bidunga again when he committed his fourth foul, although coaches had agreed to allow six fouls for the exhibition.

The Cardinals crept within single digits on a pair of free throws by Hadley, but returned to some of their erratic shooting from the first half. Tiller, continuing to play extended minutes with Bidunga’s foul trouble, drove down the baseline for a dunk to put KU ahead 57-43 with 14 minutes to go; however, Louisville’s Brown made his first shot of the game with a much-needed 3-pointer.

Louisville scored just four points in the following four minutes.

With just over eight minutes remaining, Tiller threw down a lob from Council, then White stepped in front of an erratic pass by Wooley and took it back from a fast-break dunk that elevated the Jayhawks’ lead to 68-50.

KU had some issues dealing with full-court pressure from the Cardinals, and after a pair of turnovers Conwell hit another 3. White and Peterson missed a series of free throws, but Louisville wasn’t able to do much at the other end. Tiller grabbed an errant pass with his left hand and went coast-to-coast for a layup that he finished through a foul, then completed the and-1.

With Peterson on the bench, the Cardinals sparked some late hope with a second-chance 3-pointer by Hadley off Sananda Fru’s missed free throw, which made it 77-69 with 2:25 to go. Khalifa was off on two more free throws to hamper Louisville’s late comeback effort. White’s corner 3 with a minute to go essentially ended it.

KU will return to Lawrence to host Division II Fort Hays State for a second exhibition on Tuesday night.

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