Kansas basketball guard Shakeel Moore misses second straight game. What’s his status?
Kansas senior men’s basketball guard Shakeel Moore missed his second straight game because of a lingering foot injury Monday night at Colorado, his status uncertain as the 2024-25 regular-season nears an end.
“Shak told us today he didn’t think he could go. That’s disappointing because he wants to be out there,” KU coach Bill Self said Monday during his pregame interview on the Jayhawk Radio Network. The Jayhawks used an eight-man rotation in Moore’s absence in a 71-64 win over the Buffs.
“It’s just nicked up,” Self added of the foot the Mississippi State transfer hurt in a pickup game at KU in late August.
“He had a crack in his foot. They put a plate and screws in there to fix it. We gave him plenty of time to heal, but it wasn’t going to be 100% healed for quite some time. He hasn’t necessarily reinjured it,” Self added, “but it hasn’t healed yet. There’s still some discomfort and pain.
“I don’t know what his availability will be much the rest of the season. I certainly hope we can get him back, but it’s not one of those deals you take two weeks off and it’s healed. He’s going to need some substantial time off or he’s just going to have to play with it. And if it’s just too painful to play with, then it just is (and he’ll have to sit out). It’s disappointing for him because he’s had a really good attitude. He’s tried hard to come back. It just hasn’t quite worked out yet.”
Moore, a 6-foot-1 native of Greensboro, North Carolina, who is in his last year of collegiate eligibility, has played in 15 of KU’s 17 games during the Big 12 season. He’s averaged 16.6 minutes a game while starting nine of 15 contests. Moore has averaged 4.2 points in Big 12 play with 24 assists against 15 turnovers. He has 11 steals and 29 rebounds.
Known for his defense, Moore in Big 12 play has hit 24 of 51 shots for 47.1%. He’s made 7 of 20 3s for 35%.
Moore did not play in the exhibition season, then missed games against Howard, North Carolina and Michigan State before playing five minutes in Game 4 against Oakland and six minutes in Game 5 vs. UNCW.
Moore then missed games against Duke, Furman, Creighton and Missouri, playing two minutes against N.C. State, 14 against Brown and two versus West Virginia. Moore played double digit minutes in 13 of the next 14 games before having to sit out Saturday’s game against Oklahoma State and Tuesday’s at CU.
With Moore unavailable, Self’s eight-man rotation has included guards Dajuan Harris, Zeke Mayo, Rylan Griffen and David “Diggy” Coit, plus Hunter Dickinson, KJ Adams, AJ Storr and Flory Bidunga.
Coit went 2-for-5 from 3 and scored six points with one assist, one rebound and one steal in 16 minutes in KU’s 71-64 win over Colorado in Boulder. Coit was 5-of-9 from 3 and scored 15 points with four assists, one turnover, one rebound and one steal in 22 minutes in Saturday’s 96-64 win over Oklahoma State in Lawrence.
All in all, Self was pleased with the eight-man rotation in Monday’s win at Colorado.
“That was a great win,” Self said after his team upped its record to 19-9 overall and 10-7 in conference play. “Guys have been laboring and trying hard and not having much to show for it especially away from home (where KU improved to 4-5 in league games).
“We did a lot of good things offensively early and defensively. We didn’t rebound the ball (CU had 46 boards to KU’s 31). If it wasn’t for Hunt (Hunter Dickinson, 13 rebounds, 32 points) we would have gotten annihilated on the glass. They beat us bad (on the boards) anyway.
“They were 16-1 (advantage) in second-chance points. We got to the line but we didn’t make free throws (16-of-28 to CU’s 7-of-10). That allowed them to stay within striking distance. But we did close the game out. That was great.”
Self noted the Jayhawks “did some good things closing the game out.”
“I’m really happy for our guys. It’s been a rough last month or two but they’ve hung in there,” Self said. “We’re 2-0 (since proclaiming the team 0-0 before Saturday’s OSU game) and we’re playing as quick a team as we have in our league on Saturday. It should be a turned up crowd I hope. It should be lot of fun.”
KU will meet Texas Tech at 1 p.m. Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse. Tech, ranked No. 10 in the country in the AP poll, lost to Houston 69-61 on Tuesday in Lubbock, Texas.
The Red Raiders are 21-7 overall and 12-5 in the league.
