Bill Self: Kevin McCullar is 'gonna try to go' vs. Baylor

As Kansas gets ready to take on Baylor on Saturday, the big question is the status of Kevin McCullar. He has missed time with a knee injury and is reportedly a game-time decision.

Ahead of tip-off, Jayhawks coach Bill Self sounded like McCullar was going to at least attempt to play in the Big 12 showdown.

“He’s gonna try to go,” Self told Fran Fraschilla. “He’s practiced the last two days, has been as close to full speed as you can and been pain free. So, we’re gonna see what he can do today.”

McCullar has been crucial for Kansas this season, leading the Jayhawks with 19 points per game entering Saturday’s game, along with 6.4 points and 4.4 assists on average. However, he’s only played in 23 games, missing four of the last five with his injury.

Kansas won back-to-back games following a loss to Texas Tech on Feb. 12 but dropped its last game against BYU at Allen Fieldhouse to drop to 21-7 overall and 9-6 in conference play. Bill Self noticed the energy wasn’t where he thought it’d be ahead of the game, and he discussed that afterward.

“They were pretty defeated and down and all that,” Self said. “But hey guys, 50% of teams in America lose every time you throw one up. This happens and right now our team is such where we’ve gotta really work our butts off and have some good things happen in order to win playing a little shorthanded right now. So things like this happen. But also to me, you could feel this coming today at shootaround. We had a terrible shootaround and the focus wasn’t very good.”

Regardless of the sluggish showing at shootaround, the Jayhawks led the entire first half. They expanded their lead to as many as 12 points in the second half, leading 41-29 with 18:27 to go. 

BYU refused to go away, however, and continued to chip away at the deficit with some sharpshooting from 3-point range. The Cougars took their first lead of the game with 4:50 remaining after a pair of free throws from Dallin Hall. 

Teams traded blows for the next couple of minutes, but Hall’s 3-pointer with 1:34 left made it a five-point lead that they would never relinquish. BYU finished 13-of-34 from beyond the arc while Kansas hit only three 3-pointers all game without McCullar, who has played one game since Feb. 5.