Lawrence was up for grabs Monday night.
Kansas stuns #1 Arizona for Bill Self's 39th straight Big Monday win originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
On a night that felt larger than the calendar, Kansas Jayhawks reminded the college basketball world why Mondays in Lawrence carry their own gravity. Inside a roaring Allen Fieldhouse, Kansas knocked off top-ranked Arizona Wildcats 82–78, handing Arizona its first loss of the season and extending one of the sport’s most absurd streaks in the process.
This wasn’t supposed to look like this. Kansas was without its headliner, freshman star Darryn Peterson, sidelined by illness just before tipoff. Arizona arrived unbeaten at 23–0, sitting comfortably atop the polls, carrying both swagger and expectations into one of the hardest buildings in America. And yet, by the final horn, it was Kansas cutting through the noise, celebrating an eighth straight win, and pushing its own record to 19–5.
Big Monday struck again. And once more, it belonged to Bill Self.
A shorthanded Kansas answers the challenge
The absence of Peterson could have tilted the night early. Instead, it clarified the mission. Kansas leaned into toughness, execution, and composure, turning the game into a possession-by-possession grind that rewarded patience and punished mistakes.
Arizona made its runs. Kansas absorbed them.
Every time the Wildcats threatened to seize control, the Jayhawks responded with a stop, a bucket, or both. The game never felt comfortable, but it always felt within reach for the home side, a familiar sensation inside a building that has swallowed plenty of No. 1 teams over the years.
More: Kansas phenom Darryn Peterson infuriates Jayhawks nation with incessant letdowns before NBA Draft
Flory Bidunga owns the moment
Freshman big man Flory Bidunga delivered the kind of performance that lives well beyond the box score. Bidunga finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds, but the defining play came late, when he met Arizona at the rim and swatted away a potential game-tying attempt, igniting the crowd and sealing the moment.
Bidunga ran the floor, battled inside, and played with the fearlessness that Big Monday tends to reward. For a Kansas team missing its primary scorer, his presence changed the geometry of the game on both ends.
Council carries the scoring load
While Bidunga owned the paint, Melvin Council Jr. carried the perimeter. Council poured in 21 points, hitting timely shots and shouldering responsibility when Kansas needed offense late in the clock.
His confidence never wavered, even as Arizona ramped up pressure. Kansas did not try to replace Peterson’s production by committee so much as replace his impact with collective resolve, and Council was at the center of that effort.
Arizona fights, but Phog wins again
Arizona didn’t fold. Brayden Burries was outstanding, finishing with 25 points and keeping the Wildcats within striking distance until the final minutes. Arizona’s athleticism and shot-making flashed throughout the night, and the Wildcats looked every bit like a team built for March.
But Allen Fieldhouse has a way of compressing margins. Missed free throws feel louder. Defensive rotations feel tighter. And when Kansas needed one last stand, it found it.
Arizona leaves Lawrence at 23–1. Its season is very much intact. Its introduction to Big Monday in Kansas, however, was a harsh one.
The streak that refuses to end
With the win, Bill Self moved to 39–0 on Big Monday games at Allen Fieldhouse, a streak that continues to defy logic in a sport defined by chaos. Different rosters. Different eras. Different opponents. Same result.
Kansas has now won eight straight games, reasserting itself in the national picture just as February tightens its grip on the season. Arizona tasted defeat for the first time, reminded that perfection is fleeting, especially in Lawrence.
It’s only February.
But nights like this are why college basketball owns Mondays.
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