No. 9 Kansas handed top-ranked Arizona its first loss of the season behind 23 points and 10 rebounds from post player Flory Bidunga in an 82-78 victory Monday night at Lawrence, Kan.
The Wildcats (23-1, 10-1 Big 12) achieved the best start in program and Big 12 history before the defeat.
Kansas (19-5, 9-2) earned its first win over a No. 1 team at Allen Fieldhouse after losing the previous five such games, including to Arizona the last time in 2003.
The Jayhawks won their eighth straight game despite playing without freshman star Darryn Peterson, who had flu-like symptoms. It was the 11th game Kansas played without Peterson, who has suffered from an ankle sprain, hamstring strain and chronic cramping.
Tommy Lloyd when asked by Brian Jeffries on 1290-AM about his team losing its first game:
"Doesn't even register with me, Brian. I'm on to the next one. That's fine. We knew we were going to lose eventually. And then to me, it's how we respond is all I care about."— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) February 10, 2026
Bidunga made two free throws with 1:35 left to put Kansas ahead 75-71.
Jaden Bradley, who had six points on 2-of-8 shooting from the field, missed a running jumper in the lane before Melvin Council Jr. converted a driving shot to give Kansas a 77-71 lead with 51 seconds left.
After a turnover by Kansas on the inbound pass, Brayden Burries drilled a 3-pointer with 34 seconds remaining.
Council was fouled and made both free throws to give Kansas a 79-76 lead with 31.4 seconds left.
Burries’ drive to the basket was blocked by Bidunga and Council was fouled.
Council, who had 23 points, six rebounds and six assists, made one of two free throws to give Kansas an 80-76 lead with 16 seconds left.
Arizona’s Motiejus Krivas followed with a jumper in the lane with 9.8 seconds remaining.
Tre White made both of his free-throw attempts with 5.1 seconds left to seal the win.
Bryson Tiller finished with 18 points and eight rebounds for the Jayhawks.
Burries had 25 points and Krivas finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds.
Burries led a 7-0 run early in the second half with five of the points, putting Arizona ahead 55-44 with 17:02 left.
Kansas then had seven unanswered points behind five points from Council.
The Jayhawks took their first lead, 65-64, with 9:32 remaining following a layup by Bidunga.
That came in the midst of Kansas outscoring Arizona 25-9 to take a 69-64 lead with 8:43 left.
In addition to Bradley struggling, Koa Peat and Tobe Awaka were non-factors in the game.
Peat had six points on 2-of-11 shooting with five rebounds and Awaka had six points and three rebounds.
Arizona also had 13 turnovers and was outscored 21-8 at the free-throw line. Kansas was 21 of 25 while Arizona was 8 of 14.
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