KJ Adams injury update: Kansas star heads to locker room after non-contact ailment vs. Arkansas

Late in the second half of Thursday’s NCAA Tournament game against Arkansas, Kansas forward KJ Adams headed to the locker room with an apparent injury. He appeared to suffer a non-contact issue with 3:10 to go in the game.

Adams went for a rebound when he hit the ground and struggled to get up. He then got help from the training staff toward the locker room, walking gingerly as he headed to the tunnel with assistance.

Adams had 13 points at the time of his departure while also adding four rebounds. Kansas had a lead when he went down, but it quickly evaporated as the game went down to the wire.

Adams entered Thursday’s game ranked third on the Kansas roster with 9.2 points per game while adding 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists. This marked his last NCAA Tournament appearance as he runs out of eligibility following his fourth year in Lawrence.

With the end of the road just ahead, KJ Adams said the Jayhawks were focusing on the survive-and-advance mindset. Although the upperclassmen were getting ready for the “lasts,” they still had to keep their eye on the ball.

“We have had a lot of laughs the last couple of weeks and I don’t think that’s the mindset we’re thinking of now,” Adams said Wednesday. “We’re just trying to advance as much as we can. I hope this is not our last week and I don’t plan for it to be, so we’re just thinking about next game, next game and trying not to make it our last.”

Thursday’s game also put Bill Self against John Calipari once again in a battle of Hall of Fame coaches. It was a high-profile matchup, and Self said Kansas knew it wouldn’t be an easy matchup against a team that came out of the SEC.

“To me, he’s always recruited great players and terrific athletes,” Self said. “I think they do a great job coaching them too, and I think they usually guard, and I’m sure they’ll do that and they’re battle-tested going through the grind of the SEC.

“But, it’ll be a fun, competitive game. I know we’re going to have to play really well to win. And I believe they’re going to have to play well to win too. So, we’ve gone against each other quite a bit over time, but I don’t believe we’ve ever gone against each other, except in two really big games, in the NCAA Tournament, and we split those. So, it’ll be a much-talked-about matchup, I assume.”