Arizona-Kansas scouting report: On Peat's progress, Rosborough's impact

No. 14 Kansas (21-7, 11-4) at No. 2 Arizona (26-2, 13-2) | McKale Center at Alkeme Arena | 2 p.m. | ESPN | 1290-AM, 92.5-FM (Spanish)

Probable starters

ARIZONA

0 G Jaden Bradley (6-3 senior)

5 G Brayden Burries (6-4 freshman)

18 F Ivan Kharchenkov (6-7 freshman)

30 F Tobe Awaka (6-8 senior)

13 C Motiejus Krivas (7-2 junior)

Key reserves

10 F Koa Peat (6-8 freshman)

3 F Anthony Dell’Orso (6-6 senior)

2 F Dwayne Aristode (6-8 freshman)

KANSAS

14 G Melvin Council (6-4 senior)

22 G Darryn Peterson (6-6 freshman)

3 G Tre White (6-7 senior)

15 C Bryson Tiller (6-11 freshman)

40 F Flory Bidunga (6-10 sophomore)

Key reserves

11 G Jamari McDowell (6-5 sophomore)

13 G Elmarko Jackson (6-3 sophomore)

7 F Kohl Rosario (6-6 freshman)

How they match up

The last time: Playing without projected NBA lottery pick Darryn Peterson but with an ear-splitting sellout crowd at Allen Fieldhouse, Kansas beat then-No. 1 Arizona 82-78 on Feb. 9 to end the Wildcats’ conference-record-breaking 23-0 start. Brayden Burries had 25 points to lead Arizona, but Kansas’ Flory Bidunga blocked his layup with 17 seconds left. Bidunga and Melvin Council each had 23 points to lead Kansas.

The last time at McKale: Jordan Hill (23 points, 11 rebounds) and Jamelle Horne (19 points, 13 rebounds) had double-doubles to lead Arizona to an 84-67 win over Kansas on Dec. 23, 2008. It was the second game of a two-game nonconference series in which the Jayhawks beat the Wildcats 76-72 a season earlier in Lawrence, Kansas. The Jayhawks are the last current Big 12 team to visit McKale since the Wildcats joined the conference before last season.

The series: Kansas leads 10-5 overall and is 2-1 against Arizona in Big 12 games: the Jayhawks and Wildcats split a pair of games played within five days last season, with Kansas beating Arizona 83-76 in Lawrence in the regular-season finale on March 8 but Arizona winning 88-77 on March 13 in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals.

What’s new with the Jayhawks: Kansas has had Peterson back since the Feb. 9 game with Arizona, but still has played overall with mixed results.

The Jayhawks were drummed 74-56 at Iowa State on Feb. 14 and then, after winning 81-69 at Oklahoma State on Feb. 21, were stunned by Cincinnati in an 84-68 Bearcats win at Allen Fieldhouse. The Bearcats shot 57.6% from two-point range against the Jayhawks and outrebounded them 40-29.

But KU flipped things around on Monday when it beat No. 5 Houston at Allen Fieldhouse 69-56, holding the Cougars to just 38.1% shooting inside the arc (20.8% outside it). The win left Kansas in a four-way tie for second place at 11-4 along with Houston, Iowa State and Texas Tech.

He said it: "Obviously, Darren's an elite talent. You can speculate all you want. I just don't see any scenario where they're not better or don't have a higher ceiling with him on the floor. So that's what we're going to prepare to play against.

"Obviously, last time kind of was a surprise that he didn't play. This time we're fully expecting him to play. And I thought in his last game ... I thought he looked really good. I thought he moved good. I thought his effort was there. He's a really talented player who's obviously a great competitor. You don't have the success he's had without being a great competitor. And I'm sure he's seeing the end of his only year in college right in front of him. I'm sure he's going to come out and try to capture that moment and make the most of it.

Defensively “they do a great job. They have great rim protection and sound principles. They just do a great job of changing it up. And they have players with a lot of physical talent that are that are well coached. You're not going to beat them with a steady diet of one thing. You’re going to have to be able to go through your Rolodex of options, to because once you they get comfortable guarding one thing, they’re really tough to score on. — UA coach Tommy Lloyd

Key players

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KANSAS

Flory Bidunga

While there’s no telling from game to game if multiskilled wing Darryn Peterson is going to play, the Congolese big man has been a consistently steady force inside for the Jayhawks, much improved as a sophomore this season. He shoots 66.1% from two-point range and blocks 9.5% of opponents’ two-point shots when he’s on the floor, with three blocks against Arizona on Feb. 9, including Burries’ late drive to the basket.

ARIZONA

Tobe Awaka

Awaka may have to readjust again to playing off the bench if Koa Peat comes back, but maybe that will take some pressure off him. Awaka fouled out after 17 minutes at Houston and picked up another three at Baylor. He was held in check at Kansas earlier this month, with just six points and three rebounds.

Sidelines

Peat, Aristode near returns

Arizona forwards Peat and Dwayne Aristode might both play Saturday, which could put the Wildcats back at full strength for the first time since their Feb. 14 loss to Texas Tech.

Aristode missed four games with an unspecified illness, while Peat left the Texas Tech game with a lower-leg injury and missed UA’s next three games. But Peat went through limited drills during UA's pregame warmups on Tuesday at Baylor, while Lloyd said Aristode stayed home during the trip so he could get in shape on his own.

Both players returned to practice Thursday, and Lloyd said he “thought they looked fine” on his radio show Thursday night. Arizona’s official availability report wasn’t set to be posted until after the Star’s print edition was completed.

Before practice Thursday, Lloyd said during his weekly news conference that he hoped to get his entire team back before long.

"We're not going to get ahead of ourselves on it but we're going to practice closer to full strength today," Lloyd said. "Hopefully that will lead to playing closer to full strength on Saturday."

They’ll have the fish

Two-game road trips aren’t quite in the Big 12’s DNA like they used to be in the Pac-12, and Kansas had a hard time adjusting last season.

For their first two-game trip in the new 16-team league last season, Kansas was sent to Utah to face the Utes on a Saturday and BYU on a Tuesday night. Utah was playing so poorly that coach Craig Smith would be fired a week later … and yet the Utes beat Kansas 74-67.

Three days later, it was even worse. Way worse: BYU blew out Kansas 91-57, knocking the Jayhawks out of the Associated Press Top 25, and Kansas ultimately wound up with only a No. 7 NCAA Tournament seed.

Now comes a similar westbound two-game trip for the Jayhawks: At Arizona on Saturday and at ASU on Tuesday.

“Whatever we did last year, let's do the polar opposite this year,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “That's what I learned. If we ate red meat last year, let's eat fish. Because that trip stunk all the way around.”

Self said the Jayhawks mostly stayed in Salt Lake City after losing to the Utes  but said this time, they will leave immediately for the Phoenix area after Saturday’s game, giving them almost 72 hours there to prepare for the Sun Devils.

“Rather than stay in Tucson and then try to split up the trip, let's just go ahead and spend the majority of time in Tempe,” Self said. “That way, we can get there and probably get more situated than we did last year. That didn't have anything to do with the results, but certainly I think this will be a little bit easier for the guys.”

Lloyd salutes Rosborough 

When former UA associate head coach and current Pima College women's assistant Jim Rosborough was honored in a retirement ceremony during a Pima game Wednesday, Lloyd was among those who showed up.

Rosborough noticed.

“I was sitting on the baseline, and I saw him pull some young gal over, a manager or something, whispered something in her ear,” Lloyd said. “I saw him looking at me, and then she walked over to me, and she said, 'coach Roz wanted me to tell you that this is what real basketball looks like.'

“I just looked at him and … I pointed to the court. I'm like, 'coach, just watch the game and win the game.' But that's him. He's one of one.”

Lloyd said he and Rosborough are “kindred spirits” because they both worked under well-regarded head coaches — Lloyd under Mark Few at Gonzaga and Rosborough under Lute Olson at Arizona. Rosborough spent 18 years working at UA under Olson, and Lloyd said he deserves credit from fans and the community as a result.

“Without him, this program wouldn't be where it is. He doesn’t get all the credit, but he's a significant part of this program, the fabric of this program and the culture of Arizona basketball.”

Watch party

Arizona will attempt to turn its pregame Bear Down Bash on the lawn north of McKale into a watch party Saturday.

The pregame Bear Down Bash, which has been held before several UA games this season, will include music and autographs from UA football players. While the Bash normally folds up a half-hour before games, on Saturday it will show the Arizona-Kansas game on the big screen for fans who aren't going inside. Admission is free.

Numbers game

1: Win Lloyd needs to tie then-Butler coach Brad Stevens for the most wins by a fifth-year coach, with 138 heading into Saturday's game.

12: Quad one wins for Arizona (against two losses), most in the country (though Michigan had 11 heading into its game Friday at Illinois).

16.5: Percent of two-pointers taken by Kansas opponents that get blocked, the third-highest defensive block percentage in Division I.