Bryce Thompson’s progress pleases KU’s Bill Self: ‘He wants to be good so bad. ...’
Kansas men’s basketball player Bryce Thompson considers himself nearly fully recovered from surgery on his right index finger back on Jan. 14.
Thompson, KU’s 6-foot-5 freshman from Tulsa, Oklahoma, who missed seven games after suffering the injury late in the KU-Oklahoma State game on Jan. 12 in Stillwater, has been an important player off the bench the past six games heading into Thursday’s 7 p.m. home contest against UTEP.
“I’d say around the 90s — 97% (healed), somewhere in there. So I’m good. I’m good,” Thompson said Wednesday in a Zoom call with reporters.
“Early it was a little difficult. I had to do a little extra, like on my wrist motion to get the full extension, but now it’s pretty smooth,” Thompson added.
He scored three points and had one assist against three turnovers in No, 13-ranked KU’s 71-58 victory over No. 3 Baylor on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.
For the year, he’s averaged 5.3 points a game on 39.9% shooting. He has made 7 of 26 threes for 26.9% with 19 assists to 19 turnovers. In nine Big 12 games, he has averaged 4.6 points a game on 40% shooting. He’s made 2 of 9 threes for 22.2% with 11 assists to nine turnovers.
“Extremely comfortable. I’m excited,” Thompson said of his state of mind entering the final game of the 2020-21 regular season. “I think we’ve got a great group and I think we can do some magical things in March.”
Of his role, he said: “Usually to come in and provide a spark, to try to uplift us, give us a little boost. That is pretty much it.”
The McDonald’s All-American has battled back well from injury, KU coach Bill Self said Wednesday. Thompson also had a back injury that forced him to miss three games early in the Big 12 campaign.
“I’m proud of the progress he’s made. I don’t think his hand has allowed him to be as efficient an offensive player as what he could be,” Self said.
“I’d like to see that out of him. He’s had a hard year, but in relation to what Doke’s freshman year was, not as hard. Doke had a season-ending injury,” Self added of former KU player Udoka Azubuike. “Bryce would have put himself in position if he hadn’t been injured to be a starter now. He’d certainly be a guy who would would be playing 20, 25 minutes a game.”
Thompson played 11 minutes versus Baylor and has averaged 15.5 minutes a game in Big 12 play.
“It was a setback for him,” Self said of the broken finger on his shooting hand. “In my opinion he was going to find his groove in January. I do think there’s a correlation in us not playing as well and him not being out there just from an energy standpoint and positivity standpoint.”
KU went 3-4 with Thompson out with the broken finger. Since his return, KU is 5-1.
“He is terrific. His best ball is definitely in front of him,” Self said. “He wants to be good so bad that you can’t help but respect that.”
Self was asked about overall health of KU’s team (18-8, 12-6) heading into the game against UTEP.
“I think we are fine. We are nicked up a little bit, but everybody is nicked up this time of year,” he said, not naming specific players or specific bumps and bruises.
“We may monitor some guys as far as reps in practice, maybe give them an extra day here and there which we have an opportunity to do over the last three to four days and next week. There’s no complaints here. We are not 100%, but nobody is this time of year.”
Of what he wants to see from his team in the game against UTEP, a Conference USA team with a 12-10 record, before the March 10-13 Big 12 Tournament, Self said: “I do think it’ll be helpful. What I want to do is win. I want to approach it just like a normal game. I don’t want our guys to lose their edge.
“We’ve built a little bit of an edge and have a little a little bit of momentum now. I want that to continue. I want to play the same way we’ll have to in order to be successful next week in the Big 12 Tournament and beyond. I felt 11 days (layoff) was too long to go without doing that (so the UTEP game was scheduled last week). We can get a lot out of this game. Anybody who thinks this is just a throw-in game is wrong. We will not approach it that way at all. We are approaching it we need to play well. We need to continue (to build) some momentum, More important we need to win this game,” Self stated.
