SAN DIEGO — Darryn Peterson recovered from a slow start to score 28 points and East Region No. 4 seed Kansas weathered No. 13 seed California Baptist’s furious second-half rally to win 68-60 in an NCAA Tournament first-round game on Friday.
After missing his first six field-goal attempts, Peterson came alive to go 11-for-18 the rest of the way. He helped Kansas (24-10) build a lead of as many as 26 points early in the second half, stemming in part from Peterson’s eruption of seven straight points to send the teams into halftime.
“Made a couple shots, Coach (Bill Self) called some plays for me. I started getting rolling,” Peterson said.
The sequence contributed to Peterson setting a Kansas program record for NCAA Tournament points from a freshman. Peterson capped the burst with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that sent the Jayhawks into the locker room up 20 points.
“At the time, going up 38-18, (it didn’t seem like) that was that big of a shot,” Self said. “But the way the game ended up, it probably was.”
The win sends Kansas into a second-round game on Sunday against fifth-seeded St. John’s. The Big East Conference champion Red Storm cruised past Northern Iowa 79-53 on Friday.
Cal Baptist (25-9), making its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, shot a woeful 7-for-32 (21.9%) from the floor in the first half. The Lancers’ offensive struggles included 23.2-point-per-game scorer Dominique Daniels Jr. missing 10 of his first 11 field-goal attempts.
But Daniels exploded in the second half, creating scoring opportunities for himself off the dribble.
Daniels ignited an 18-2 run that lasted more than eight minutes, scoring on a variety of deep 3-pointers and acrobatic lay-ins.
The Lancers cut the deficit to six points in the final minute and had an opportunity to pull within a single possession after Daniels skied over Jayhawks big man Flory Bidunga for a defensive rebound — one of Daniels’ team-high seven boards — but Cal Baptist could not convert at the other end.
“The clock kept moving, and essentially, we ran out of time,” Lancers coach Rick Croy said. “That was a true March Madness game. We’re grateful for the competition, and we knew Kansas was going to be ready. We would have loved to play better in the first half, but for these guys to show what they’re all about is amazing.”
Daniels finished with 25 points, shooting 4-of-9 from 3-point distance and dishing three assists. Martel Williams contributed 15 points for the Lancers.
Tre White bookended the win for Kansas, first buoying the Jayhawks during a dismal offensive start with his ability to get to the free-throw line, then throwing down a thunderous dunk in the closing seconds.
White scored 12 points, the only Jayhawk other than Peterson to log more than eight points, and handed out seven assists. Bryson Tiller, who grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, finished with six points.
–Kyle Kensing, Field Level Media
