After missing two consecutive games, Kansas basketball star Kevin McCullar returned to the Jayhawks lineup in the team's 67-57 win over Oklahoma. He was dealing with a bone bruise in his knee that held him out of a contest last month but was healthy enough to suit up this past weekend.
While he was active for KU, his shooting slump continued. The 6-foot-6 guard scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds on 4-of-14 shooting, marking the third time in the past five games that he shot under 30% from the field. For a player with 46.3/35.2/79.3 shooting splits, McCullar was uncharacteristically inefficient.
His defensive effort and hustle were still evident on the court, but Kansas basketball fans could tell he wasn't 100%. Following the win, head coach Bill Self talked about his bone bruise and how it could affect him for the rest of his final collegiate season.
“I think it's going to be something that is going to — until he has a substantial amount of time to rehab and do some things to strengthen some muscles around it, which doesn't happen overnight,” Self said. “Yeah, this is going to be something he deals with probably for the rest of the year.”
McCullar is no stranger to playing through injuries as a Jayhawk. He missed a portion of the Big 12 Tournament due to back spasms one year ago and battled through them during March Madness. Additionally, he missed 18 games across three campaigns when he competed on the other side of the conference as a Texas Tech Red Raider.
“I thought he was definitely out of sorts, out of rhythm,” Coach Self continued. “But he played within himself. We don’t win the game unless plays.”
From Self's words, it appears that this injury will hamper McCullar's performance until his career at KU comes to a close. His impact is still felt on the floor when his shots are not connecting, but with less than three weeks remaining until the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments approach, time is running out for McCullar to get it going on the offensive end.