Kansas forward Bryson Tiller (15) elevates for a shot over Arizona guard Jaden Bradley (0) during the first half, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug

For the first time in Bill Self’s 23-year tenure as head coach, a top-ranked opponent visited Lawrence.

Something had to give, as Self, with an unbeaten record at Allen Fieldhouse in Big Monday games, ran into an Arizona team that had yet to lose all season.

“We couldn’t lose this game,” guard Melvin Council Jr. said. “This game means so much to us.”

KU played like it, and the result was an all-time classic in an absurdly amped-up Phog. With star guard Darryn Peterson ruled out shortly before tipoff, Council, forward Flory Bidunga, and the motley crew of Jayhawks that remained managed to rally from an 11-point deficit to stun the Wildcats, 82-78, on Monday night.

“We just kept grinding,” Self said. “The crowd was unbelievable. The crowd wouldn’t let us get tired. It was a fabulous night. We played a really good team, and we didn’t play great, but they didn’t play great either.”

Bidunga rejected Arizona’s Brayden Burries on a drive to the rim with KU nursing a three-point lead with 17 seconds to go, and Tre White made a pair of game-sealing free throws in the final seconds.

“I low-key got beat,” Bidunga said. “He brought me to the left side and crossed to the right side, and I’m quick enough to get back on track, and I think that’s what I did, just moved my feet pretty fast and then the ball was right there in my left hand.”

Council and Bidunga scored 23 points each and Bryson Tiller chipped in 18.

“He hasn’t really shown us what he’s fully capable of, but so far, it’s pretty good,” Bidunga said of Tiller. “It’s a team effort. We did it together, and I’d definitely say we were ready, and ready to fight.”

Council went just 6-for-25 from the field, his second-highest total number of field-goal attempts on the season behind his masterful performance in overtime at N.C. State. But he made 10 of 11 free throws and got a big shot to fall with just under a minute remaining.

“I was just worried about the UConn game (from Dec. 2, a narrow loss for KU),” Council said. “I feel like it was the same atmosphere, same game, and I feel like I let my teammates down against UConn because I could have won us that game. I was just thinking about the UConn game the whole time, like ‘I got to be more aggressive,’ and that’s what I did.”

Arizona’s Burries led all scorers with 25 and Motiejus Krivas (14 points, 15 rebounds, six blocks) was a menace in the paint all night.

“They’re No. 1 for a reason,” Bidunga said. “They have size, they’re strong. They got me beat, they got us beat in the first half, I would say. We came up in the second half and then fought even harder.”

Peterson, who was not listed on KU’s final availability report on Monday evening, was instead ruled out less than 20 minutes before tipoff due to flu-like symptoms, thrusting Jamari McDowell into the starting lineup.

“Obviously I’m sure they’re better with Peterson,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said, “but we thought they were pretty good without him tonight as well.”

Added Self: “I don’t know that we would have played that aggressively if he’d been in the game, because he’s getting a lot of those touches and a lot of those shots.”

Three misses, an early turnover and a fast pace from the visiting Wildcats put KU down 6-0 within a minute and a half. The Jayhawks reclaimed a bit of momentum with a putback and fadeaway jumper by Tiller and two giveaways by Krivas, and McDowell scored five quick points of his own. But Arizona opened 8-for-12 from the field and maintained a healthy distance from KU, led by the two-way play of Krivas.

“We knew he was good, but I didn’t know he was that good over both shoulders and this and that,” Self said. “He’s really good.”

Bidunga, who battled hard in the paint with the Lithuanian 7-footer, made a series of free throws to help KU cut its deficit to three points at 19-16, and Tiller made a game-tying 3. But Dwayne Aristode had a response with a rare 3-point attempt for the Wildcats, and Krivas got a mismatch for an easy bucket in the post to help offset the impact of Tiller’s next 3 — which brought him to 14 points midway through the first half.

With KU down three points and deploying some rarely used lineups, Council and Elmarko Jackson weren’t on the same page, leading to a turnover. Arizona put in back-to-back buckets and Self called timeout.

Council fought his way to a three-point play, which Bidunga built on with a putback dunk off a rare miss by Tiller.

Amid a spirited defensive showing from the Jayhawks, Burries and Anthony Dell’Orso knocked down 3s to help the Wildcats maintain their lead. But McDowell — who had four rebounds and three steals in the first half — hit one of his own from the corner to tie the game a second time.

“I get on him a lot, when I give him the ball, ‘Just shoot it,'” Council said. “Sometimes he be second-guessing and stuff, and he didn’t do that today, and I’m just proud of him.”

After another bucket by Burries, McDowell battled through contact for a contested shot, but couldn’t complete a three-point play that would have given KU its first lead.

Instead, Burries knocked down a 3-pointer, and the teams traded two-point possessions to make it a 45-42 advantage for Arizona at the break.

Tiller and McDowell led the way for KU at halftime, with Council and Bidunga supplying seven points each, but all eight Wildcats had contributed at least three points in a well-rounded effort by the visitors.

“If it weren’t for those two guys, we would have been behind and probably put ourselves in a position that may have been too much to come back,” Self said.

The early stages of second halves had not been kind to KU in the lead-up to Monday night’s game, and that trend continued against the Wildcats as Arizona rattled off a 10-2 run to take its biggest lead at 55-44 before Council connected on a 3.

That kicked off a run of seven straight. The teams proceeded to trade buckets for a foul-laden stretch before an injury to Peat brought about the under-12 timeout with the Jayhawks trailing 62-58.

Council tossed a lob to Bidunga, who threw it down over Krivas, drawing a foul. He made the following free throw to cut it to a one-point game.

Krivas and Bidunga traded close-range buckets, and then Bidunga gave KU its first lead after Ivan Kharchenkov airballed a 3. The indefatigable Council went all the way for a layup to put the Jayhawks ahead 67-64 and force a timeout by Tommy Lloyd.

It took some time, but after two more free throws by Council, Burries drilled a 3 to end his team’s scoring drought of more than four minutes.

Tiller dunked with 4:37 to go to extend KU’s lead to 73-67, but he got up gingerly and went to the bench briefly with cramps.

Burries made two free throws and Tiller returned. After a series of empty possessions by both teams, Kharchenkov wiggled his way through defenders for a layup to make it 73-71 with two minutes to go.

Bidunga went 2-for-2 at the line, McDowell rebounded a miss by Jaden Bradley and Council rattled in a pivotal floater to put KU back up by six.

Bradley knocked down a pull-up jumper, and Arizona forced an immediate turnover on an inbounds pass. Burries then made it a one-point game again with a corner 3.

“I actually thought we really guarded about the last eight minutes,” Self said. “I thought we really guarded. Burries, obviously made a big 3 when we were up four and we jack around and don’t get the ball in bounds. Wrong guy took it out, only one guy can take it out and Bryson makes a mental mistake and he takes it out and we’re screwed after that.”

Council knocked down a series of three much-needed free throws, though he missed a fourth, and Arizona got a quick bucket inside from Krivas to make it 80-78 with 9.7 seconds to go.

White’s two free throws put an end to the contest as Bradley lost the ball attempting a desperate shot in the final moments.

The Jayhawks, who improved to 19-5 (9-2 Big 12) will compete in another top-10 matchup on Saturday at 12 p.m. when they meet No. 5 Iowa State (21-2, 8-2 Big 12) at Hilton Coliseum. KU previously beat the Cyclones 84-63 at Allen Fieldhouse on Jan. 13.

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