Could Kansas basketball be at full strength vs. Oklahoma? Here’s the injury update
Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self revealed a somewhat optimistic injury report Thursday at a news conference held in advance of Saturday’s 3 p.m. Big 12 battle at Oklahoma.
Self stated that senior guard Kevin McCullar (knee injury) and freshman guard Jamari McDowell (flu), who missed the last two games, figure to play in the rematch of KU’s 78-66 victory over the Sooners on Jan. 13 at Allen Fieldhouse.
“I’m anticipating that hopefully both will (play),” Self said. “Jamari shouldn’t be an issue at all. Depending on how Kevin feels through practice on Thursday … if he’s able to continue to go on Friday I’d anticipate him being able to be out there some. I don’t know the exact role or how much he’ll play, but he practiced yesterday. We just went real short.”
The Jayhawks, who have taken two days off after playing Saturday/Monday games in the past, did indeed take to the court Wednesday, two days after a 79-50 loss at Texas Tech in Lubbock. That game followed Saturday’s 64-61 win over Baylor in Lawrence.
“Coach switched it up a little bit by having us do a little bit of practice yesterday,” senior center Hunter Dickinson said Thursday. “We did a lot of defensive work. Obviously I think that was warranted given our performance on Monday, so I think it was good for us to get a little bit of a sweat in yesterday. Just coming here today, I feel everybody will be a little more loose (than they would) from having two days off. I think it’ll be good for us.”
Self said of Wednesday’s defensive-minded workout: “At practice you are going to emphasize one or two things, defense or offense. Yesterday was a defense practice.”
He continued: “The biggest thing was getting them out there and moving (around). We only went 40 minutes.”
Oklahoma, ranked No. 25 in the AP poll, will take an 18-7 record, 6-6 in conference action, into Saturday’s game. No. 6 Kansas is 19-6, 7-5.
