Kansas basketball: Marcus Garrett’s injury had an effect on Jayhawks

Kansas basketball’s Marcus Garrett was injured yesterday in the Jayhawks’ one-point loss to Villanova.

Villanova knocked off #1 Kansas basketball by just one point. The Jayhawks could have done a lot of things to get the win in the final moments of the game, but losing junior guard Marcus Garrett really hurt Kansas.

Garrett only played 13 minutes of the contest before injuring his right ankle. The loss of Garrett had an impact on the Jayhawks in more ways than one.

First and probably the most obvious, Garrett’s ability to play lockdown defense. His reputation as an elite defender is one of the most well known in the conference, and head coach Bill Self gushes over just how valuable Garrett is:

"“Marcus Garrett is the best defensive player in the Big 12. He proved that by guarding 1 through 5 for us [last season].”  “He guarded great players at all those positions.” – Coach Bill Self"

On the offensive end, Garrett has averaged 8.7 points, 4.2 assists, and 3.8 rebounds per game. He’s second on the team in assists behind Devon Dotson and third on the team in three-point percentage with 36.8%.

Overall, Marcus Garrett is an extremely valuable asset for Kansas. The Jayhawks are 31.8 points per 100 possessions better when Garrett is playing, and before yesterday, Garrett played 30 minutes per game.

Another impact Garret has on the Jayhawks is one Kansas basketball fans may not recognize.

After the game, Ochai Agbaji and Bill Self talked about how Garrett’s injury affected the team:

"“Definitely seeing him go down in the first half kind of brought our team down. It’s hard, our leading defender.” – So. Ochai Agbaji“We played different because Marcus obviously got hurt and just hopeful he’s not going to be out too long.” – Coach Bill Self"

With Garrett on the floor, Kansas may have pulled out the game, but what’s done is done. The Jayhawks had plenty of other chances to win, for example only shooting 40% from the free throw line.

At this point, it’s all about getting ready to travel to Stanford next week.

There isn’t a lot of information out right now about Garrett, but Coach Self indicated that the medical staff didn’t believe the injury to be extreme. Hopefully, Garrett will return to the court sooner rather than later.

Kansas will travel again next week, this time to take on Stanford. The game time is set for 2:00 PM (CT) on ABC. The Cardinal is currently 11-1, and will provide yet another tough game for the Jayhawks.