White scores 23 as No. 14 Kansas rebounds with 69-56 win over No. 5 Houston

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Tre White scored a season-high 23 points and No. 14 Kansas bounced back from a surprising defeat with a 69-56 victory over No. 5 Houston on Monday night.

Freshman star Darryn Peterson added 14 points on 5-of-14 shooting in 30 minutes for the Jayhawks (21-7, 11-4 Big 12), who fell six spots in this week's AP Top 25 following an 84-68 loss at home Saturday to unranked Cincinnati.

Bryson Tiller had 11 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks for Kansas, which handed the scuffling Cougars (23-5, 11-4) their third consecutive defeat — all against top-15 opponents. Melvin Council Jr. added 11 points, six rebounds and four assists.

Kingston Flemings scored 16 on 6-of-18 shooting for Houston, which hadn't dropped three straight games since January 2017. The Cougars shot 32% from the field, including 5 of 24 (21%) from 3-point territory.

Kansas hasn’t lost consecutive home games since the 1988-89 season, Roy Williams’ first as coach. The Jayhawks are 52-1 on ESPN’s Big Monday in Allen Fieldhouse, including 41-0 under coach Bill Self. Two weeks ago, they took down top-ranked Arizona at The Phog.

Kansas used a 12-0 run early in the second half to turn a two-point lead into a 49-35 advantage at the under-12 timeout. The margin stretched to 20 before Houston went on a 7-0 spurt, but the Cougars never got closer than 10 the rest of the way.

The Jayhawks missed nine of their first 10 shots, going 8:28 without a field goal. But they closed the first half with an 11-0 run to take a 31-27 lead into the break.

Houston hosts Colorado on Saturday.

Kansas visits No. 2 Arizona on Saturday.

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Kansas guard Darryn Peterson (22) attempts to get past Houston guard Emanuel Sharp (21) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, in Lawrence, Kan. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley)

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Mikko Rantanen will miss at least one game for the Dallas Stars after returning from the Olympics, where he didn't play in Finland's win over Slovakia for the bronze medal because of a lower body injury.

Coach Glen Gulutzan had said after practice Monday that he wouldn't expect Rantanen to play in the Stars' first game after the break, and maybe the second. He said then that Rantanen was going to see a doctor.

A few hours later, the Stars placed Rantanen on the injured list. The move was was retroactive to Friday, and their leading scorer (69 points) has to be out at least a week from that point.

The Stars host Seattle on Wednesday night and are home again Saturday against Nashville. They then have a day off Sunday before road games on consecutive nights.

After getting hurt in Finland's 3-2 loss to Canada in the Olympic semifinals on Friday night, Rantanen didn't play in the 6-1 win over Slovakia on Saturday night.

Rantanen was among six Dallas players who brought home medals from the Olympics.

Jake Oettinger was the backup goalie for the United States team that won the gold medal with a 2-1 overtime win over Canada, which meant a silver for Stars defenseman Thomas Harley. Four Dallas players were on the Finland squad that won bronze: Rantanen, Roope Hintz, Esa Lindell and Miro Heiskanen.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Finland's Mikko Rantanen (96) challenges with Canada's Connor McDavid (97) during a men's ice hockey semifinal game between Canada and Finland at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)