Kansas basketball star Kevin McCullar and freshman Jamari McDowell have missed the past two games for the Jayhawks, and McCullar especially is someone head coach Bill Self needs when his group takes on No. 25 Oklahoma in Norman this afternoon.
McCullar, the leading scorer in the Big 12, was absent from KU's win over Baylor in Allen Fieldhouse and the 29-point loss to Texas Tech on Monday. He is dealing with a recurring bone bruise in his knee which held him out of one game last month too.
McDowell also has not appeared in a game for nearly two weeks, though he plays sparingly already. His absence was due to an illness that had spread to multiple players on the team, including fellow freshman Johnny Furphy.
Will Kansas get these two back today?
Kansas basketball injury report vs. Oklahoma
G Jamari McDowell: Probable (Illness)
G Kevin McCullar Jr.: Questionable (Knee)
Coach Self spoke about the injury status of both players during his media availability on Thursday. Here is what he had to say to reporters.
“I’m anticipating that hopefully both will ,” Self told the media. “Jamari shouldn’t be an issue at all, and depending on how Kevin feels through practice on Thursday, if he’s able to continue to go on Friday, I would 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 (Wednesday). We just put it real short.”
From Self's words, it appears that McDowell is a sure thing to play and McCullar is more of a question mark. His ailment could be something that lingers for the rest of the regular season, so he could start the game on the bench like he did when he was injured during last year's Big 12 Tournament.
If the standout guard remains out or plays with the second unit, Nick Timberlake figures to continue filling in for him in the starting lineup.