By JAMES MADDEN
No. 19 Kansas suffered its first defeat on Friday night, falling to No. 25 North Carolina 87-74 in Chapel Hill. This matchup was the return game of a home-and-home series, in which Kansas defeated North Carolina in Lawrence last season.
In Bill Self’s first ever trip to the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, he fell in love with the environment right away.
“Carolina’s not Carolina without Kansas and Kansas isn’t Kansas without Carolina,” Kansas head coach Bill Self said postgame. “There’s no way you can look at it and feel different, based on the intertwined history of both programs.”
Self has previously said more teams should schedule high-level opponents early in the season and is very interested in continuing this series with the Tar Heels.
In terms of the game, it was a tale of two halves between Kansas and North Carolina. The first half was all Jayhawks, while the second half was all Tar Heels.
On a night where the two freshmen, Darryn Peterson and Caleb Wilson were major headlines, both players delivered. Peterson finished with 22 points, three rebounds and three assists on 8-of-14 shooting, along with three made threes. Wilson stole the show in the paint, however, tallying 24 points, seven rebounds and four assists on 9-of-12 shooting in the win.
“Caleb (Wilson) was the best player probably in the game” Self said.
In Kansas’ first true road test, the potential No. 1 overall NBA Draft pick, Peterson, delivered and met expectations, but the Jayhawks were unable to get offensive rhythm from anywhere else, especially with Bryson Tiller in foul trouble and eventually fouling out in the second half. Tiller was Kansas’ second-leading scorer, recording 12 points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting from deep.
The Jayhawks still have their hands full in their non-conference slate, with games against Duke, UConn, Syracuse, Notre Dame and NC State on the schedule.
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