Add another player to 9th-ranked Kansas’ growing injury list.
Two days after watching sophomore big man Zach Clemence go down with a knee injury during KU’s loss at Iowa State, sophomore guard Bobby Pettiford did not suit up for Monday’s clash with No. 5 Texas at Allen Fieldhouse.
Pettiford has been dealing with a vulnerable hamstring for the past couple of weeks. He played Saturday at Iowa State but was limited, and KU coach Bill Self said Pettiford could not even push off of his injured leg while on the floor against the Cyclones.
Self said he thought Pettiford, like several others, could be out a while and that he did not anticipate Clemence, Pettiford or freshman big man Zuby Ejiofor being available on Saturday at Oklahoma.
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PHOTO GALLERY: Kansas vs. Texas
Box score: Kansas 88, Texas 80
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The absence of Clemence (knee), Pettiford (hamstring), Ejiofor (foot), Kyle Cuffe Jr. (knee) and Cam Martin (shoulder), along with a couple of walk-ons left KU with nearly as many players in street clothes as it had in uniform and able to play on Monday night.
It also left the Jayhawks with just eight scholarship players for the battle with the Big 12 leader on Monday night.
Self said after the victory that walk-on Michael Jankovich was the next in line to enter the game had the Jayhawks needed another body.
All eight entered the lineup as early as Monday’s first half and each one made an immediate impact on the floor, even freshman guard MJ Rice, who played 6:41 in the first half and finished with two points, three rebounds, an assist and a steal.
To put those numbers in perspective, Rice had only played more than seven minutes in an entire game five times this season entering Monday night.
It’s been a month since former Texas head coach Chris Beard was fired and nearly two months since he was suspended by the school after being charged with a third-degree felony in a domestic dispute.
During that time, interim head coach Rodney Terry led the Longhorns to a 12-3 record and a spot in the Associated Press Top Five entering Monday’s matchup with Kansas. UT’s only losses during Terry’s time in charge have come to three top-12 programs, and the run recently drew praise from KU coach Bill Self.
“Those kids have rallied around a situation and rallied around coach Terry in a way that you’d expect winners to do,” Self said.
Well versed in managing distractions — most notably the NCAA and FBI investigation that still looms — Self said players and programs typically have two ways to go when they’re hit with hard times. They can fall apart and let the outside noise rattle them or they can rise above it.
“You can see their players rallying around that situation because they know it’s not easy,” Self said. “And a lot of times when it’s not easy it kind of brings everybody together more.”
Back with the Longhorns as a member of Beard’s staff starting last season, Terry came to Texas after stints as a head coach at UTEP and Fresno State. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach at Texas under Rick Barnes from 2002-2011.
The Kansas men’s basketball team dropped just one spot to No. 9 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll on Monday after a 1-1 week.
Kansas knocked off then-No. 7 Kansas State at home last Tuesday and followed that up with a 15-point road loss at then-No. 13 Iowa State over the weekend. The result of those outcomes left the Jayhawks in the top 10 for the 14th week this season, a statement as much about the rest of college basketball as the Jayhawks’ talent, resume and potential as they head into the homestretch of the season.
The Jayhawks are one of six Big 12 teams ranked in the Top 17 this week, with another (West Virginia) receiving votes.
Texas moved up five spots to No. 5 and Iowa State jumped two spots to No. 11. Kansas State fell five spots to 12th and Baylor and TCU both fell, as well to 14th and 17th respectively.
At the top of the poll, after being a unanimous No. 1 a week ago, Purdue held on to the top spot despite losing to Indiana over the weekend. The Boilermakers were one of four teams receiving first-place votes this week, with No. 2 Houston picking up 22 first-place votes and No. 3 Alabama and No. 4 Arizona each getting one.
Texas, Tennessee, UCLA, Virginia, KU and Marquette rounded out this week’s top 10 while North Carolina State, Creighton and Rutgers entered the poll at 22-24 after not being ranked a week ago.
Monday’s win pulled the Jayhawks within a game of Texas in the Big 12 standings and opened the race up for all six teams still in the thick of it… KU now leads the series with UT 37-12, including an 18-2 edge in games played at Allen Fieldhouse… The Jayhawks are now 12-1 at home this season… KU coach Bill Self is now 27-12 all-time against the Longhorns, 27-10 while at Kansas.
