{"id":319993,"date":"2025-10-21T01:46:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T01:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/319993\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T01:46:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T01:46:12","slug":"two-man-game-between-kus-bidunga-peterson-grows-through-preseason-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/319993\/","title":{"rendered":"Two-man game between KU\u2019s Bidunga, Peterson grows through preseason practices"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Kansas guard Darryn Peterson (22) raises his hands in celebration after a bucket during Late Night in the Phog on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug<\/p>\n


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A few months before arriving on campus at Kansas, freshman guard Darryn Peterson said he was most excited to play with his center Flory Bidunga.<\/p>\n

Now, just weeks away from the regular season, Bidunga and Peterson are building chemistry and a two-man game that the Jayhawks can rely on throughout the upcoming season.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy job is to make him look better, and his job is to make us look better,\u201d Bidunga said. \u201cI\u2019m excited for him to be here and be a part of the Jayhawks and to play with him on the same team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bidunga spent last year as a backup big man and rotated in with KJ Adams and Hunter Dickinson. He averaged 5.9 points per game in 16.2 minutes per game through the 2024-25 season. This summer, he\u2019s focused on getting into the best shape, and coach Bill Self said that he can \u201cmake a case for being the most consistent guy so far\u201d in preseason practices.<\/p>\n

While in action, Bidunga challenged teams at the rim. His athleticism and ability to pressure a defense when rolling to the rim can make it difficult for teams to defend a pick-and-roll with Peterson also driving to the basket. Building off that, the two can form a dynamic two-man game to keep defenses on their toes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re playing really well together right now, and we\u2019re just consistently getting better,\u201d Peterson said. \u201cWe\u2019re looking for each other \u2014 I see what he likes, he sees what I like. I think people are going to have to respect our two-man plays, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout his first year at Kansas, Bidunga showed a special ability to finish lobs. For Peterson, there\u2019s never a lob attempt that Bidunga can\u2019t throw down.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of times where I throw it and I think \u2018It\u2019s too high,\u2019 and he still goes and gets it,\u201d Peterson said. \u201cThere\u2019s no such thing as too high for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Self said that Bidunga has improved \u201con the perimeter\u201d over the offseason, developing a better ability as a playmaker and ball handler. His growth in some of the smaller aspects of playing within the offense can help both him and Peterson have an efficient attack this season.<\/p>\n

Peterson arrived as one of the top recruits in the country and one of the highest-rated in Kansas history by several recruiting sites. On top of his ability as a strong downhill scorer and ball handler, several players on the team mentioned Peterson\u2019s shooting in practices. With the threat of Peterson shooting, it opens up more space for Bidunga in the paint for lobs and other plays.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re both threats from three levels out,\u201d Peterson said. \u201cWith the lobs, I don\u2019t think anyone is going up to block that. They have to respect both of us at all times, anywhere on the court.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Bidunga being one of the few returners and Peterson coming in with the skill and pedigree he has, the two have the skill sets required to play off each other and lead the Jayhawks\u2019 offense. So far, the results have been good.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur chemistry is pretty good \u2014 we\u2019re working on stuff as a team and with me and him together,\u201d Bidunga said. \u201cWe always have this two-man game at the end of the shot clock. We want to make people respect me or him. So far, it\u2019s been pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Kansas forward Flory Bidunga (40) gets up to contest a shot from Kansas guard Jamari McDowell (11) during Late Night in the Phog on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug<\/p>\n

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Written By David Rodish<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Men’s Basketball Kansas guard…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":319994,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[1339,1317,1337,1338,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-319993","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-ncaa","10":"tag-ncaa-basketball","11":"tag-ncaabasketball","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115409636706875439","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319993\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/319994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}