SAN DIEGO -- Darryn Peterson's NCAA tournament debut began with a clank -- six of them, to be exact -- as he missed his first six attempts from the field during Kansas' first-round matchup against Cal Baptist on Friday.
Coach Bill Self subbed Peterson out with 12:41 left in the first half but only for a minute of game time. Once the freshman phenom returned to the floor, he did not hesitate on his seventh attempt, and it kick-started one of Peterson's best games of the season.
"I was still feeling good," said Peterson, whom many project to be the top pick in this year's NBA draft. "My coaches are telling me to keep shooting, my teammates were [too], so their confidence helped me out."
By the time Peterson drained back-to-back 3-pointers to put Kansas up by 22 points in the second half, bringing the crowd to its feet, the Jayhawks looked to be in control of the game and would go on to win 68-60 thanks to his game-high 28 points.
"He was huge for us. Seeing it every day, I'm not shocked. This is what he does," Kansas guard Tre White said of Peterson. "You see what he can do whenever he gets hot."
Peterson is the first Kansas freshman to score at least 20 points in his tournament debut. His 28 points were the most by any Kansas player in his NCAA tournament debut since David Robisch had 29 against Houston in 1971.
Yet it wouldn't be a Peterson performance without some drama.
Up by 26 at one point thanks to Peterson's effortless scoring, Kansas nearly collapsed down the stretch. The Lancers engineered a comeback that cut the lead to six with a minute left. As the Jayhawks suddenly struggled to score in crunch time, Peterson was noticeably away from the ball and the action.
He did not take a shot in the final 4 minutes, 18 seconds.
"I thought our offense the last four or five minutes was brutal. Offensively, we were so passive and complacent," Self said. "Out of a timeout, we got a couple of plays to get the ball to Darryn, and we'd throw it to somebody else and they're face guarding him, and we didn't get it back."
"I happened to not touch it," Peterson said of the final minutes. "It's fine, though. I'm happy we won."
Asked postgame about the nature of balancing Peterson's elite on-ball abilities with the Jayhawks' style as a team, Self didn't shy away from the fact that he is effectively trying to get the best out of two types of offenses.
"Our best offense is to let him go when he's out there. But our best offense when he's not out there is to allow the defense a chance to break down," Self said. "So I think that we play a little differently when he's out there. And I'm not saying that's positive, but I think the way that he needs to be coached is go make plays. Let it go. When he doesn't have it, teams aren't going to let him catch it easy. So when he does have it, take advantage of the times that he does have it."
Peterson sat 11 of the Jayhawks' first 27 games but has played in their past seven. He has played fewer than 25 minutes in seven of his 16 appearances as a result of hamstring and ankle injuries, including persistent cramping. On Friday, however, he was on the court for 32 minutes, which tied his season high.
Despite the chaos on offense late, Self's team did enough to escape from Viejas Arena with a win and advance to the second round, where it is set to face St. John's. On Sunday, Self will attempt to advance to his 13th Sweet 16, and this time, Rick Pitino and the Big East tournament champions stand in his way.