Kansas basketball might rest Jayhawks guard Kevin McCullar during Big 12 Tournament

Despite dealing with a bone bruise in his knee, star Kansas basketball guard Kevin McCullar returned from a multi-game absence against Baylor. He has been dealing with the injury since January and it is something that will bother him for the remainder of the year, but the Jayhawks might be without him for another period.

During head coach Bill Self's press conference today, Self revealed that McCullar has not been practicing with the team because he reaggravated the injury during the Sunflower Showdown. He played 29 minutes vs. the Wildcats in a blowout victory earlier this week and 31 minutes in the loss to BU.

Even after sitting out yesterday, his status remains uncertain moving forward. "I don't know if Kevin will practice today. I don't know if he'll be able to do that. But hopefully, he'll be able to go tomorrow," Coach Self said this afternoon.

With just one game remaining in the regular season, there are five days until the Big 12 Tournament and ten until Selection Sunday. That raises the question of whether it would be best if he received some "load management" for his knee instead of playing in the conference tourney.

"I don't know. But that's something I've certainly thought a lot about. I think we're too soon to talk about it. Let's see how he does this weekend. Let's see how he feels next week, but doing well in the Big 12 Tournament isn't as important as him being healthy the next week. So, we'll try to figure it out. But I'm going wait and get through this week before we actually try to get a game plan together."

If the season ended today and Kansas cannot jump Texas Tech in the conference standings, the Jayhawks would begin on Mar. 13 in the second round. The most logical course of action might be to rest McCullar until the Round of 64 so the team can be fully healthy come the tournament. Time will tell what Self and the KU coaching staff decide to do, but it is not a good sign to see McCullar dealing with this recurring injury again.