Magic 40: Kansas deals Arizona its first loss, Bill Self adds 40th home Big Monday win

Entering Monday night inside a sold-out Allen Fieldhouse, three zeroes are key to make note of.  

39-0. 

23-0.

0-5.

Bill Self was 39-0 at home on ESPN Big Monday as Kansas' head coach. 

No. 1 Arizona Wildcats were 23-0, tied for the longest winning streak in Big 12 Conference history.

Kansas was 0-5 when hosting the No. 1 team. 

Something needs to give, right? 

Before things even began, Arizona was determined to nab win number 24 from Self; it would have been his first Monday night loss. Standout freshman Darryn Peterson was scratched just minutes before things got started, with flu-like symptoms forcing him off the floor. 

“[Darryn] didn’t practice yesterday, but we were hoping he could play today,” Self said postgame. “He came out for shootaround and wasn’t able to go.”

Peterson’s absence left the Jayhawks struggling out of the gate, allowing the Wildcats to swipe an early 6-0 lead before the Fieldhouse crowd could settle in. 

“We were awful early and too sped up and maybe too excited and didn’t play well,” Self said. “[Jamari McDowell] and BT kinda kept us in it early.”

Kansas spent most of the first half scrapping to stay close with Arizona, finding its largest spark from Bryson Tiller. In previous matchups against Texas Tech and Utah, Tiller had a combined 11 points, which wasn't an obstacle he faced against the Wildcats. Tiller caught fire early this game and posted 14 of the Jayhawks' first 22 points. 

“I work on my game every day, and I trust in my abilities,” Tiller said postgame.

Despite Tiller’s heroics, Arizona spent most of the half trying to extend its lead. The Wildcat's advantage reached as many as seven points in the first half. 

Yet, behind a crowd that reached 124 decibels before tipoff, the Kansas offense persisted. It was a back-and-forth motion between the two teams. 7-0 run Wildcats. 7-0 run Jayhawks. 

45-42 Arizona at the half. 

Early in the second half, Kansas’ cracks started showing. Arizona stretched the lead to as many as 11 points before an 11-5 Jayhawk run sent Kansas storming back within five. 

All night long. Run, counter-run, run again. 

Down four with 11 minutes to go, Flory Bidunga sent the Fieldhouse into a roar. Bidunga skied for a lob from Melvin Council, slamming it home and capping off an and-one chance that brought Kansas within one before Motiejus Krivas extended the advantage to three.

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Magic 40: Kansas deals Arizona its first loss, Bill Self adds 40th home Big Monday win

Following that sequence, it became the Bidunga show. Four straight Flory points gave Kansas its first lead of the night, 65-64.

Game on. 121 decibels from the sold-out crowd. 

Kansas would add four more before Arizona would lose its grip again, and would stretch out to a 73-67 at the final TV timeout before a 4-0 Arizona run dropped the lead back to two. 

The Bidunga show hadn't stopped at this point. A pair of free throws pumped Kansas back ahead by four, and a defensive stop gave the Jayhawks the basketball right back. 

Driving through a pair of Wildcat defenders, Council floated a shot home off a pair of friendly bounces, inducing an Arizona timeout and another enormous crowd roar. 

77-71. 

Not done yet. 

A responsive 5-0 Arizona run closed the gap, and Council went to the line to convert a pair to put the Jayhawks ahead by three again. 

Arizona Wildcat forward Koa Peat drove, looking to get back within one. 

The Bidunga show is still on.

Bidunga’s third block of the night sent Council back to the stripe, where he split a pair and gave Kansas a four-point lead at 80-76. 

Arizona's Krivas responded with a layup but needed a stop with nine seconds on the clock.

A stop the Wildcats never obtained.

Another pair of Council free throws sent a still-buzzing Fieldhouse into pandemonium. Bill Self, celebrating with a fist pump, embraced Bidunga. 

82-78 Kansas. Final. 

1-5.

23-1. 

40-0.