Kansas coach Bill Self wasn’t overly pleased with his team’s offense against North Carolina, but he knows that wasn’t why KU lost 87-74 in this road matchup between power programs on Friday, Nov. 7.
Self, speaking on the Varsity Network postgame show, saw freshman guard Darryn Peterson step up and score 22 points by shooting 8-for-14 from the field, 3-for-5 from behind the arc and 3-for-5 from the free-throw line. Freshman forward Bryson Tiller came off the bench and scored 12 points on four made 3s. Overall, when it came to shooting the ball, KU’s numbers were actually a little better in the second half compared to the first.
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The problem was, that No. 19 Kansas (1-1) couldn’t guard at all and failed to rebound at the level it needed to against an opponent with so much size. No. 25 UNC (2-0) dominated the second half, outscoring the Jayhawks 58-37 after halftime to overcome an eight-point deficit.
Self knows there’ll be a lot to learn from.
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“It’s a great opportunity for us to get better,” Self said. “We knew coming in here that there were some things that we hoped that we could kind of get through a game and not be exposed, but we were exposed today in some physical, athletic plays. And so, it’ll be an eye-opener. The tape won’t lie, and we’ll learn a lot from it. Flory (Bidunga) got off to such a good start tonight, he was so good early and posting deep and everything, and then he didn’t get touches after that.”
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Self continued: “And our ball-screen coverage was very confusing. Were we hard-hedging? Were we in drop? Were we switching? And certainly that’s the coaches’ fault. That’s my fault as much as anything. But we’ve got to tighten that up.”
Even amid Peterson’s strong night, Self acknowledged Kansas has to do a better job running its offense to get him open, and Peterson has to do a better job getting open, too. Self thought his Jayhawks didn’t do well enough to take advantage of the defensive emphasis North Carolina placed on Peterson. Even though Tiller scored, he was among a group of big men for KU that didn’t play to their size enough as Tiller fouled out.
UNC freshman forward Caleb Wilson shined, with his 24 points, seven rebounds, four steals and four assists. North Carolina senior guard Seth Trimble drew praise from Self, too, after a 17-point, 8-rebound, 3-assist performance. Once UNC brought its crowd back into the game early in the second half, it never lost hold of the momentum.
Kansas will now look ahead to home games Nov. 11 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Nov. 15 against Princeton. Both will be opportunities to bounce back before the Jayhawks face No. 5 Duke in the Champions Classic on Nov. 18 in New York City. What awaits KU as non-conference play continues is by no means an easy schedule.
Nov. 7, 2025; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Kansas basketball coach Bill Self reacts in the second half of a game against UNC.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: ‘Tape won’t lie,’ Kansas basketball coach Bill Self says after UNC loss
