Flory Bidunga answers Bill Self's challenge in Kansas' win vs. Princeton

Shreyas Laddha, The Kansas City Star on Nov 15, 2025

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LAWRENCE, Kan. — All season, Kansas coach Bill Self has pleaded for his big men to play true to their size.

Finally, one did.

Sophomore forward Flory Bidunga showcased a new array of moves on a day the Jayhawks needed the offensive punch. The result was his best college game to date — and a decisive KU victory after a shaky start.

No. 25 Kansas (3-1) defeated Princeton 76-57 on Saturday afternoon at Allen Fieldhouse.

Bidunga scored a career-high 25 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and had three blocks. Tre White added 18 points and eight rebounds.

Freshman Bryson Tiller, the Jayhawks’ usual sixth man, started in place of star guard Darryn Peterson, who missed his second straight game due to hamstring tightness.

KU’s starting lineup Saturday was Melvin Council Jr., Kohl Rosario, Tiller, White and Bidunga.

For a while, this one was too close for comfort. The Jayhawks led by only eight at half, and Princeton cut the margin to one point in the second half.

Princeton, in fact, opened the game firing away from 3, but finished the first half 5 for 17 (29.4%) and the game 10 for 35 (28.6%) from distance.

Up next: KU travels to New York to play Duke in the Champions Classic.

Until then, here are three takeaways from Saturday’s game:

Bidunga dominates

After KU defeated Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Tuesday, Self said that Bidunga (12 points, eight rebounds that night) needed to play better.

A big response followed.

After a slow start, the big man took over. With the Jayhawks up only five with 2:24 remaining in the first half, Bidunga scored nine consecutive KU points. And he was impressive in doing so.

On one sequence, Bidunga dunked on a Princeton player, then, the next possession, backed a defender down, spun, absorbed contact and made a layup for an and-one. He converted the free throw for the three-point play.

It was Bidunga’s most impressive offensive display in his tenure with the Jayhawks.

He led all scorers with 15 points on 6-for-7 shooting at the break. He also grabbed four rebounds.

Bidunga continued his impressive play in the second half and helped secure a KU victory.

KU’s offense starts slow without Darryn Peterson

The Jayhawks missed Darryn Peterson (hamstring) Saturday.

Unlike the game against A&M-Corpus Christi, KU’s offense was hard to watch for a lot of Saturday’s game. The offense looked disjointed and ended plenty of possessions with bad shots (47.2% shooting as a team) and turnovers (14 on the night).

This is where Kansas needs to find a reliable scoring option — after Peterson. It’s why Self noted he wants Bidunga to become KU’s second option, eventually, but right now it’s all by committee.

To Bidunga’s credit, he stepped up Saturday. It just took a while for Kansas’ offense to wake up.

Against Princeton, that worked out OK. But against some of the tougher teams on the Jayhawks’ schedule, it may result in losses.

Bryson Tiller quiet in first start

Forget sixth man, Self called Tiller the team’s “sixth starter” Tuesday, saying the Jayhawks essentially had three frontcourt starters for two frontcourt spots.

So with Peterson out, there was no surprise the Jayhawks turned to the 6-11, 240-pound freshman. But his performance did not match the billing.

After two stellar games, Tiller struggled against Princeton. He was tentative on offense after not lacking any aggression in his games off the bench.

He had six points on just 1-for-6 shooting, but to his credit he drew a couple of fouls. He shot 3 for 4 at the free throw line and also grabbed five rebounds.

Tiller is still settling into his role. But the Jayhawks will hope to see more from him, especially if and when Peterson sits.

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