Acting Kansas basketball coach Norm Roberts said Kevin McCullar Jr. would play in today’s Big 12 title game against Texas, “if he’s OK.”
KU junior Jalen Wilson, a longtime friend of McCullar’s who has posted two double-doubles in two games at the Big 12 tournament so far, jokingly added that McCullar did not have his permission to miss the game if he was able to be out there.
“If he can play, he’s going to play,” Wilson said after Friday’s semifinal victory. “But I don’t want to get him re-hurt again, something that’s going to be long term.”
Two big ifs.
And both are unnecessary.
McCullar’s a competitor and there’s no doubt that he wants to play. You could see in his face on Friday how much not playing bothers him as he sat behind the Kansas bench being treated for back spasms by trainers for most of the second half of the Jayhawks’ 71-58 win over Iowa State in the semifinals.
He looked miserable. He looked bummed out. He looked a little out of it, most liklely from a combination of the pain and disappointment. He looked like he wanted to be anywhere but that seat.
Today, though, that’s exactly the seat he should occupy again.
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Box score: Kansas 71, Iowa State 58
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Not having him out there will make beating Texas much harder for the Jayhawks. And make no mistake about it, this team absolutely wants to beat the Longhorns.
Kansas coach Bill Self, who remains out of commission while recovering from a health scare earlier this week, — several Jayhawks noted Friday that Self is “getting better” and in good spirits — has always said about the Big 12 title game that if you get there, you might as well give it everything you’ve got to win it.
The only advantage in the way of rest in this tournament, Self has always said, comes if you happen to lose early and give yourself an extra day or two off. But at this point, the Jayhawks are going to play three games in three days anyway, so the focus will be on winning it.
“It means a lot,” Roberts said of the postseason tournament, which KU won last year en route to a national title. “Every time we put that uniform on, Kansas wants to win. I don’t care if we’re playing an exhibition game or regular season game. Doesn’t matter. We want to win. That’s what we’re built on. That’s what our guys know. They know that’s the expectation. So, we will go out there and try and play as hard as we can and try to succeed.”
With McCullar, though, it should be different.
Kansas needs him next week at the NCAA Tournament and possibly in the weeks that follow that far more than they need him today. As such, resting him is the right move.
“It’s day-to-day, minute-to-minute, what’s going on,” Roberts said of McCullar’s back spasms after Friday’s win. “But he gave us all he could today and we’re proud of him for doing that.”
Added KU freshman Gradey Dick of playing without McCullar on Friday: “It’s tough. He’s the backbone of our team. But the fact that he’s even out there just goes to show what kind of guy he is.”
It wouldn’t be all that crazy for Kansas to consider resting Wilson, Dick, Dajuan Harris and KJ Adams, too.
They could and should all play. They should even start. But let them playing 7-10 minutes in the first half and another 5-7 minutes in the second half and then shut it down. No matter what the scoreboard says or how the game is going.
Doing so would give KU’s reserves an opportunity to step up in a meaningful spot while also ensuring that KU’s key core is both rested and healthy for the most important time of the season.
Even if Roberts and Self agree to go for broke today, playing the starters their normal minutes and sprinkling in the bench as needed, they should still sit McCullar.
Texas played just eight guys in its semifinal win over TCU on Friday and was without regular starter Timmy Allen. They could — and also should — be without Allen again in today’s game, which would even the playing field a little bit if Kansas were to hold McCullar out.
Either way, it’s big-picture thinking that matters now. And while a Big 12 tournament title would be nice and certainly would be celebrated, having McCullar as healthy as possible for the Big Dance is far more important.
These guys all know that. McCullar included. But it’ll be interesting to see what they decide to do when game time rolls around.
Kansas and Texas, the top two seeds in this year’s tourney, are slated to tipoff at 5 p.m. on ESPN from T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo.
The big question will be what the Jayhawks do if they elect to sit McCullar or if he can’t go. On Thursday, junior guard Joe Yesufu started in his place. And on Friday, Yesufu played 23 minutes off the bench. He didn’t look particularly effective or efficient either night, though, and has been in a bit of a funk — especially shooting the ball — for the past couple of weeks.
Freshman big man Ernest Udeh Jr. got a few key minutes on the floor with McCullar out on Friday, playing alongside starting 5 man KJ Adams as KU went with two bigs instead of four guards. It worked great and Udeh’s play provided a real spark.
Both Adams and Udeh said in the locker room after the game that they have worked on that lineup throughout the year in case they needed it.
“KJ and Ern was running for us,” Harris said after Friday’s win. “And that’s really what we want from our bigs.”
Playing them together not only gives KU a way to manage with McCullar out, but it also would give Texas a different look that it hasn’t seen much this year, on film or in person.
In a winner-take-all, one-game scenario, that could pay off big time and lead to Kansas being the one showered with confetti later tonight.
