BYU Will Face Shorthanded Kansas Team On Tuesday Night
Feb 24, 2024, 7:54 PM | Updated: Feb 25, 2024, 1:08 pm
LAWRENCE, Kan. – The next game for BYU basketball will be against blueblood Kansas on Tuesday night.
When BYU rolls into Allen Fieldhouse for the first time since 1971 to face Kansas, the Jayhawks will be without one of their star players.
Kansas guard Kevin McCullar is out for the upcoming game against BYU
Kansas head coach Bill Self said on Saturday night that senior Kevin McCullar would not be playing against BYU.
Bill Self told reporters post-game that Kevin McCullar (knee) is OUT for Tuesday's game against BYU. https://t.co/9lLC0eTTcv
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) February 25, 2024
McCullar is dealing with a bone bruise in his knee that has caused him to miss three of the last four games, including Kansas’s 86-67 win over Texas on Saturday in Allen Fieldhouse.
“It’s not a day-to-day deal; it’s a week-to-week deal. He obviously won’t go on Tuesday [against BYU]. I’m not going to put him out there because he’s missed so much time,” Self said on Saturday night to reporters.
McCullar is viewed as a potential first-round NBA draft pick. He appeared in the Jayhawks win on February 17 at Oklahoma, playing 35 minutes in KU’s 67-57 win in Norman.
“You can look at a number of games [he’s missed], and that’s not the story. The story is he played against OU and had what, two days of a little bit of practice and then played, and he wasn’t effective. It didn’t feel good at all,” Self said. “So he’s going to practice for a good week before we put him out there so he can go and not reinjure it worse.”
McCullar is averaging 19 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 4.4 assists for a Kansas team that has lacked depth this season. In replace of McCullar on Saturday against Texas was Towson transfer Nick Timberlake, who scored 13 points and had an athletic alley-oop slam dunk over Dylan Disu.
No. 9 Kansas defeats Texas 86-67.#BYU takes on the Jayhawks in Allen Fieldhouse on Tuesday night.
Kansas improves to 313-17 at home in the Bill Self era.#Big12
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) February 25, 2024
Kansas is currently two games behind Houston in the Big 12 regular season championship race with four games remaining.
“The big thing is, I’d like to have [McCullar] for the postseason, where he’s in rhythm and our team has a chance to be the best it can be going into the second week of March,” said Self. “But I’m hoping we get him back. It’s not anything that I’m thinking is going to happen tomorrow or Monday. I don’t think that at all.”
Even without McCullar, BYU has a daunting task in front of them to try and pull off a win at Kansas. The Jayhawks are undefeated at Allen Fieldhouse this season.
BYU is coming off an 84-74 loss at Kansas State. The Cougars traveled back to Provo on Saturday evening after the K-State loss and will fly out to Lawrence on Monday afternoon.
In the Bill Self era, Kansas is 313-17 in home games.
BYU vs. Kansas
Date: Tuesday, February 27, 2024
Location: Allen Fieldhouse
Tip-Off: 6 p.m. (MT)/7 p.m. (CT)
TV: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Radio: KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM, 1160 AM – Pregame begins at 5 p.m.)
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.
