Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, center, comes off the team bus with teammates and coaches outside the Omni San Diego on Wednesday, March 18, 2026. Photo by Nick Krug

SAN DIEGO — As Kansas coach Bill Self recalls, it seemed great in theory for the Jayhawks to get to play the first weekend of the 2009 NCAA Tournament in center Cole Aldrich’s home state of Minnesota.

“Until we played … North Dakota State and then they had 20,000 people at the game, or 15,000 people (at the Metrodome),” Self said.

KU managed to escape that first-round battle with the Bison, who were playing in their first-ever NCAA Tournament, by a score of 84-74.

Sixteen years later, Self was happy to see that the Jayhawks draw San Diego’s Viejas Arena as their first-weekend tournament site, at least if the drivable Oklahoma City and St. Louis weren’t options. The upshot, however, is that No. 4 seed KU faces Cal Baptist, another first-time participant in the tournament (at least at the Division I level), about 100 miles down the freeway from its Riverside, California, campus.

“And so, the crowd will certainly, I would think, side with the underdog just because they’re local,” Self said. “But that’s the way it is a lot of places.”

The proximity to the No. 13 seed’s home base adds another interesting element to the start of KU’s quest for a deep NCAA Tournament run, as the Jayhawks look to progress past the first weekend for the first time since the 2022 title season.

The Lancers played KenPom’s No. 206 strength of schedule this season, which evidently forms quite a contrast with KU’s No. 1 but still ranks ahead of 15 other tournament teams (so is 53rd of 68). Cal Baptist managed to face a handful of power-conference foes, all three of them from the Big 12 and so common opponents with the Jayhawks, in nonleague competition.

The Lancers actually led Colorado at halftime but did not score for seven and a half minutes and in the process allowed 16 straight points and lost 78-70 at the CU Events Center. They were never close against BYU two days later in a 91-60 loss, but they came back three days later and challenged Utah. Dominique Daniels Jr. had 31 points and 11 rebounds and Martel Williams made a pair of late 3s to get CBU within two points with 2:54 to go, but Utah won the game at the free-throw line with a final score of 91-85.

Daniels is the central figure around whom the rest of the team revolves.

“They’ve got multiple guys that can score on the perimeter,” KU coach Bill Self said, “but they’ve only got one guy that may be as good at getting his own shot as we’ve gone against this year. I mean, he can go get it.”

The 5-foot-10 guard from Compton, California, a JUCO product out of San Bernardino Valley College whom numerous fans and media members have already projected as a potential future March Madness hero, is the nation’s No. 5 scorer at 23.2 points per game.

Daniels has attempted 186 3s this season and the two he made in the final 1:16 in the WAC final against Utah Valley (after he was previously 5-for-23 on the day) are the reason Cal Baptist made it to the NCAA Tournament in the first place, but he is capable of finding space from a defender anywhere on the court, inside or outside the arc, to get a shot up. And he gets them up about 18 times per game. When he’s at his best he can get to the line and turn in highly efficient showings, like 47 points on 21 shots in a previous UVU matchup on Jan. 24.

It is worth noting that the Lancers are not a one-man show. Daniels is 19th in the country in usage percentage at 32.8%, which is high, but it’s still quite a bit lower than Big 12 focal points like Utah’s Terrence Brown, BYU’s AJ Dybantsa and of course KU’s Darryn Peterson. For one thing, Cal Baptist has uncommon size for a mid-major with 6-foot-10 Thomas Ndong, 6-foot-11 Jonathan Griman and 7-foot Bradey Henige all in the rotation. None of these players is an offensive powerhouse, but they combine for 18 rebounds per game, about seven of which are offensive. That’s a glaring threat to KU, which all season has ranked among the nation’s worst teams at preventing opposing offensive rebounds. CBU is tied for ninth in the country on the offensive glass.

One way in which the Lancers don’t necessarily match the profile of a typical upset hopeful: They don’t shoot a lot of 3s. They are tied for 313th in the country in 3-point attempts per game and make them at a middling 33.7%. Their top two guards, Daniels and Martel Williams (12.9 points per game) are both below that line. Starting wing Jayden Jackson (9.3 points, 35.5% from deep) and rotational guard Jordan Muller (4.5, 35.2% are a hair above it).

CBU does have a means of keeping itself in just about any game with a stingy defense that limits opponents to 41.7% from the field (48th nationally), 29.7% from deep (eighth) and 67.6 points per game (tied for 31st).

If the Jayhawks are able to break through against the Lancers, they will face the winner between No. 5 seed St. John’s and No. 12 Northern Iowa in a second-round matchup on Sunday.

KANSAS JAYHAWKS (23-10, 12-6 BIG 12) vs. CAL BAPTIST LANCERS (25-8, 13-5 WAC)

• Viejas Arena, San Diego, 8:45 p.m. Central Time

• Broadcast: CBS

• Radio: Jayhawk Radio Network (in Lawrence, KLWN AM 1320 / K269GB FM 101.7 / KMXN FM 92.9)

KEEP AN EYE OUT

Tiller time: Self has taken issue at various points throughout the season with freshman forward Bryson Tiller’s play style, asserting that he needs to take greater advantage of his 6-foot-11 size by playing tougher inside and rebounding the ball better. He’s shown general improvement, as with a series of dynamic performances in KU’s eight-game winning streak, and occasional regression, as when Self benched him for the second half of the Jayhawks’ Big 12 tournament loss to Houston. To curb Cal Baptist’s potential on the offensive glass, Tiller will need to be back at his best in time for the postseason. Self said on Wednesday that he’s had a good week and exhibited a “fantastic” attitude.

Another level: Self has said that Peterson is ready to play his best basketball. If that’s the case, it could take KU to yet-unseen heights. The freshman star now appears to be rounding into form, having played seven full games in a row after injuries and cramps marred much of his season. The possibility that he could combine the driving ability he has displayed of late with the outside shooting that sustained him while he was hurt suggests that his best offensive basketball — perhaps well beyond his season-high 32 points from the TCU game in early January — may indeed still be ahead of him, even at this late stage of the season.

Meeting the moment: The NCAA Tournament is certainly new to the Lancers. It’s not necessarily old hat to the Jayhawks, even if they have some players who have taken the stage in March — Flory Bidunga, Elmarko Jackson and Jamari McDowell have played in the first weekend once each; Melvin Council Jr. has done so once after winning a First Four game at Wagner; and Tre White made the postseason with USC and Illinois. Can that experience serve as an asset to the Jayhawks, even as they are still relying heavily on freshmen like Peterson and Tiller?

OFF-KILTER OBSERVATION

This is the first-ever meeting between KU and Cal Baptist.