Adou Thiero injury update: John Calipari reveals Arkansas forward's status for Kansas game

Arkansas will open the NCAA Tournament with an incredible matchup, going up against the Kansas Jayhawks. John Calipari and Bill Self will battle once again, just with the former wearing different colors. Unfortunately, the Razorbacks will be without a key player on Thursday.

Calipari announced Arkansas’ leading scorer, Adou Thiero, is set to miss the first-round game against Kansas. Thiero has been out for multiple games now, spanning back into the regular season. Arkansas played without him during a two-day stint at the SEC Tournament and will now kick off March Madness doing the same.

Thiero currently leads Arkansas in scoring, averaging 15.6 points over 26 games played. He has not been on the court since Feb. 22 when the Razorbacks took down rival Missouri in Fayetteville. In total, five regular season and two SEC Tournament games have been missed.

If Arkansas were to take down Kansas, Michigan State would likely be waiting for them on the other side. Calipari would get another great coaching matchup against Tom Izzo. Going into the game with Thiero would have to make him a whole lot more confident in his bunch.

First up is a tough Kansas team, having its own intentions of advancing. Arkansas is more than battle-tested, even without Thiero in the lineup, going up against SEC foes on a nightly basis.

Boogie Fland expected to play for Arkansas in NCAA Tournament

Arkansas forward Boogie Fland is expected to return to practice on Sunday, John Calipari told ESPN’s Seth Greenberg via text. Barring a setback, he is expected to be available for the NCAA tournament.

Fland suffered a hand injury in January, and the expectation was he would miss the rest of the season as a result. He was averaging 15.1 points and 5.7 assists at the time of the issue, which looked like a key blow for Arkansas.

However, there’s now growing optimism Fland will be able to suit up in the NCAA tournament. Calipari told Greenberg the growing expectation is the freshman guard will be able to give it a go.

“I just got a text form John Calipari,” Greenberg said at halftime of Alabama vs. Florida. “Boogie Fland is working out. He’s expected to go full practice tomorrow. Unless he gets a setback, they expect him to play in their next game. He said, Boogie’s most important thing is, he wants to be part of the solution. He just wants to help these guys, and he respects all they’ve accomplished.”

On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this report