The bright side for Bill Self is that his Kansas team won\u2019t be shellshocked should the NCAA Tournament roll around and potential No. 1 pick Darryn Peterson needs to tap out of a game early yet again.<\/p>\n
Self acknowledged being surprised that his uber-talented freshman once again exited a game early after suffering cramps during the No. 8 Jayhawks\u2019 81-69 road win over Oklahoma State on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Peterson curiously exited the game with 17:22 remaining in the second half after playing just 18 minutes, taking himself out by patting his leg after hitting a 3-pointer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t anticipate that tonight at all. I thought he was good to go. But we only got 18 minutes out of him. That\u2019s disappointing because he could have had a really good night,\u201d Self said. \u201cOne thing about it is it\u2019s happened often enough that our guys have learned to play without him, even though that\u2019s not the way we want to play, but certainly that\u2019s not something we\u2019re unaccustomed to right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Peterson is an elite talent and one of the premier talents in the country, a narrative is starting to build around his availability.<\/p>\n
Peterson has only appeared in 15 of the Jayhawks\u2019 26 games due to injuries, and there have been multiple games when load management as become a hot topic.<\/p>\n
He exited a Jan. 31 win over Baylor early in the second half, played just 24 minutes last Saturday in a loss to Iowa State this past Saturday after missing the previous game and then exited early again Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Kansas coach Bill Self during Wednesday\u2019s win. William Purnell-Imagn Images<\/p>\n