Kevin McCullar missed Saturday’s Big 12 final vs. Texas. When will KU guard return?
Kansas senior guard Kevin McCullar, who has been suffering from back spasms of late, was not held out of Saturday’s Big 12 Tournament final against Texas merely for precautionary reasons — i.e. the NCAA Tournament likely beginning for KU on Thursday in Des Moines, Iowa.
McCullar’s back injury flared one minute into the second half of Friday’s semifinal victory over Iowa State when McCullar tied up Tamin Lipsey on defense. He was not able to answer the bell medically on Saturday, one day after the flareup played havoc with his back.
“No,” acting coach Norm Roberts said, asked directly if McCullar could have played against Texas in what turned out to be a 76-56 KU defeat.
“He needed to rest and we’re thinking about it for the long haul, given that the tournament is next week,” Roberts added, noting McCullar is “day-to-day.”
Roberts conceded that the 6-foot-6 McCullar’s presence was missed in Saturday’s blowout loss to Texas. Though it should be noted McCullar did play in KU’s 75-59 loss — a similar 16-point loss — to Texas on March 4 in Austin.
“Kevin makes a big impact with our team,” Roberts said. “He can do so many different things and he does so many little things defensively. When you’ve got him and Juan (Harris, six points vs. Longhorns on 3-of-7 shooting with four assists, four turnovers, two steals) out there you can do a lot of things as far as trapping or getting loose balls.
“And Kevin is an excellent rebounder for us, too. We knew that going in. But it next-man-up mentality. Some of our younger guys did some good things, but we got beat too easy on back-cuts, and really the end of the shot clock, giving up easy shots or easy plays. We need to do a better job.”
Guard Joseph Yesufu, who started in McCullar’s place and scored 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting (1-of-5 threes) in 29 minutes, said: “You guys know Kevin is a great defender. He’s the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year. He was missed today not only on the defensive end, but on the rebounding end. We just really missed him today.”
No excuses were made, however, concerning possible KU fatigue on Saturday.
“We’re at Kansas. We don’t make an excuse. You just keep on playing,” Roberts said. “We just didn’t guard the way we needed to. We’re not going to make any excuses. They played the same amount of games we played. No excuses. We just didn’t focus in and guard the way we needed to and take them out.
“Give them credit. They made a couple of tough shots, too, but we just didn’t guard like we needed to.”
KU’s bench accounted for three points, a three from MJ Rice, who played 15 minutes.
“Guys have to play with confidence and we didn’t do that today,” Roberts said after KU suffered the second-most lopsided loss in a Big 12 final. KU beat Missouri by 27 points during the first Big 12 tourney in 1997.
“I thought Ernest (Udeh, no points, three rebounds, 16 minutes) had a couple of opportunities to score in tight, couple of lobs we didn’t make, and I thought Bobby (Pettiford, no points, no assists, 12 minutes) needs to get downhill more,” Roberts added.
“Joe had quite a few open looks. Even though I know he started today, he had quite a few open looks. I thought MJ did some good things probably in a different role than what he’s been in. Those guys know they have to play with more energy and look to score the ball more.”
It wasn’t KU’s day obviously, but the Jayhawks (27-7) are ready to move on.
“Give Texas (26-8) a lot of credit. They played really well. They’re very athletic, we knew that. Fast. They’ve got some really, really good offensive players,” Roberts said. “I thought we did a pretty good job early on in the game and then we missed a bunch of bunnies, easy shots, put-backs and things that could have kept us in the game.
“And then I think fatigue kind of took over. We got tired in the second half and we had a couple of guys get nicked up. We didn’t defend the way we needed to.”
Roberts said the Jayhawks would likely rest on Sunday, then gather as a group to watch the Selection Sunday show (5 p.m., CBS).
