Jay Bilas praises Kevin McCullar, believes Kansas needs to play 'great' to beat Houston

Kansas is not a deep team this year, and if Kevin McCullar is hampered in any way against Houston, it’s hard to imagine the Jayhawks pulling out a victory on the road vs. the nation’s No. 1 team.

KU did defeat the Cougars in Allen Fieldhouse back in early February, a statement game that the Jayhawks may be taking lumps in Big 12 play, but they’re still capable of competing with and beating any team in the country. But that may not be the case when Kevin McCullar isn’t in the lineup. The likely All-American leads the team in points at just over 19 per game along with averages of 6.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.6 steals. He does it all, but could be limited after tweaking his knee vs. Kansas State the other day.

If that’s the case, Jay Bilas finds it hard to believe Kansas can beat Houston on Saturday.

“An elite defender and he’s one of their few 3-point shooters,” Bilas said of the KU star on SportsCenter, noting that KU really doesn’t have an outside threat.

“You know, Kansas only makes five 3s per game. So most of their scoring from getting paint touches, getting out in transition. They’re not a great offensive rebounding team.”

However, McCullar is the guy that can knock down a 3 but also initiates a lot of the offense for Kansas. Heck, he’s even one of their better rebounders, too. Behind a 17-7-5 stat line from him in the last game, the Jayhawks put on an absolute show in front of their home fans.

“In the last game against Houston, Kansas shot 70% from the field, and this is a Houston team that only allows opponents to shoot 38%. They’re one of the best defensive teams, if not the best defensive team in the country,” Bilas continued, almost pointing out what an aberration that last matchup was.

“They’ve won 21 straight home games. Kansas is going to have to bring it. They’ve not done well — they lost seven games in conference play, six of those have been on the road.”

Kansas has done fine protecting its home court but road trips have been almost universal disasters for the 2023-24 team. They have just two true road wins in Big 12 play against the Oklahoma schools and only three all year counting Indiana in the non-conference. Meanwhile, Houston hasn’t lost at home since January of 2023.

“This is about as tough a road environment against a super physical defensive team. Kansas is going to have to play great to win this game,” says Jay Bilas.

Bill Self will be praying up until tip-off that Kevin McCullar can give it a go so the Jayhawks have a shot. Otherwise, odds are this thing gets real ugly for Kansas in H-town.