Kevin McCullar Jr. has been through a tough stretch in recent weeks.
McCullar, a graduate senior guard, played in each of Kansas basketball’s first 20 games. Then, starting with a Jan. 30 home game against Oklahoma State and going through Saturday’s road game at Baylor, he’s only played in four of the last nine. What’s been described as a bone bruise injury has affected how much he’s been available for the Jayhawks down the stretch in Big 12 Conference play.
But outside of McCullar struggling to hit three-point shots Saturday against the Bears, he put in a performance that more closely represented his potential than the previous time he played — Feb. 17 at Oklahoma. Although his return didn’t lead to a win for No. 9 Kansas, as he and his teammates lost 82-74 against No. 14 Baylor (21-8, 10-6 in Big 12), his level of play is trending in the right direction.
And his coach, Bill Self, spoke to that after the defeat.
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“I thought Kevin did really well, considering he’s been out,” Self said postgame on the Jayhawk Radio Network. “And that’s going to help us a lot, but Kevin wasn’t himself today. I mean, there’s a much better version of Kevin that’s still left to come. So — but he did really well today. But, we just didn’t get it done.”
Self continued: “I’m certainly less discouraged today than some of the other losses we’ve had where I felt like that we just let them get away from us or whatever. We played to the end, and we had a lot of guys play a lot of minutes and they hung in there.”
McCullar tied with senior center Hunter Dickinson at 20 points, as the pair together led Kansas (21-8, 9-7 in Big 12) in scoring. McCullar shot 9-for-19 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line, with his line weighed down by an 0-for-5 mark from behind the arc. He also added five rebounds, two assists and two steals, while turning the ball over a few times.
Freshman guard Elmarko Jackson proved to be another bright spot for the Jayhawks, scoring eight points off the bench while hitting a couple of 3s — which drew praise from Self postgame. Redshirt senior guard Dajuan Harris Jr. also thrived, nearly finishing with a double-double as he collected 12 points and nine assists.
Due to those performances, there are reasons to be optimistic about Kansas moving forward, as Self alluded to. But the KU coach also mentioned the Jayhawks need to rebound better and be more consistent shooting the ball from behind the arc.
The first opportunity for Kansas to showcase any improvement will be Tuesday, when it welcomes Kansas State to Allen Fieldhouse for senior night. It’ll be a chance to exact some revenge, after an overtime loss for the Jayhawks against the Wildcats earlier this season. It’ll be a chance to recognize the veterans on the roster.
Self seemed a little unsure of how they’ll handle things. He mused that graduate senior guard Michael Jankovich is their only true senior, Dickinson can come back, Harris wants to do it next year and the trio of McCullar, graduate senior guard Nicolas Timberlake and graduate senior forward Parker Braun has already had theirs. But the players will be honored.
“We’ll figure something out, but I do want all those kids honored,” Self said. “Even if they don’t speak after the game, we’ll give them an opportunity to be introduced with their families and get some flowers and go out there and be recognized.”
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Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
First appeared on www.cjonline.com