Kansas basketball: Bill Self has a big decision to make on Senior Night

Kansas basketball head coach Bill Self has a decision to make this Wednesday against TCU regarding senior Udoka Azubuike.

In Kansas basketball’s win over Kansas State last Saturday, big man Udoka Azubuike went down with an apparent ankle injury early in the game. He’d go to the locker room for a time before returning again later in the first half with about nine minutes left.

Azubuike would end up scoring six points and playing 20 minutes. He normally averages about 27 minutes per game.

The following day, Gary Bedore sent a Tweet regarding Azubuike’s injury that contained both good and bad news:

The good news is that nothing’s broken; however, the sprain is concerning. Kansas basketball’s next game is Wednesday night against TCU, so head coach Bill Self has a decision to make: Should he play Azubuike, or should he sit him?

The fact that this Wednesday night is Senior Night adds another layer of complexity to this situation. This is supposed to be Azubuike’s last game in Allen Fieldhouse, which is a big deal. The question on that though, is whether or not it’s a big deal to Azubuike.

The smart thing to do is to probably sit Azubuike, at least at this point. The term “questionable” assumes the player is good enough to go, but probably below 80 percent healthy. It seems like a bad idea to trot the big man out there unless he’s actually close to 100 percent, given he could reinjure himself or make it worse.

In terms of importance, this game isn’t really up there now that the Jayhawks are in sole possession of first place in the Big 12. Even if Kansas wins only one of their last two conference games, they will have at least claimed a share of the conference title, so that’s not really in question at this point.

Giving Azubuike a chance to worsen his injury against TCU isn’t a gamble worth taking, so here’s a solution: start Azubuike, play him briefly, and sub him out. He’ll get a standing ovation without a doubt, and a proper sendoff from Lawrence. If Azubuike does recover well enough to play full speed but maybe not 100 percent, start him but limit him to around 15-20 minutes.

The key here is risk vs. reward. The risk is massive to Kansas is Azubuike plays a ton. The Jayhawks’ chances in March will be seriously hurt if the big man isn’t able to play or can’t go full speed, and that’s not worth risking for an opponent who is 7-9 in conference play this season, even if it is Senior Night.