By ADAM ZAGORIA
Kansas stars Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar will miss this week’s Big 12 Tournament with injuries but are expected the following week for the NCAA Tournament, head coach Bill Self announced Monday.
Kansas’ top two scorers average a combined 36.2 points and 16.8 rebounds per game.
“It’s going to look a lot different and we are going to be tiny [for the Big 12 Tournament],” Self told reporters, per Henry Greenstein of the Lawrence Journal-World.
“We need to figure out how we’re going to score some points because we’re losing 37 points a game,” he added.
The 7-foot-2 Dickinson suffered a dislocated shoulder in Saturday’s blowout loss to No. 1 Houston, and they had had it put back in. The Michigan transfer is averaging 18.3 points and 10.8 rebounds.
“We got great news yesterday with Hunt,” Self said. “There’s no surgery. He did not tear his labrum. Actually he’s far better off than what the doctors and the trainers even imagined.”
The 6-7 McCullar has missed time with a knee injury. He did play 15 minutes in the Houston game but went scoreless. He’s averaging 18.3 points and 6.0 rebounds this season.
“Kevin will not play this week,” Self said. “But that’s a positive too because everyone thinks that the time off will obviously help him. He will play in the NCAA Tournament as well.”
Without Dickinson and McCullar, KJ Adams will play the five beginning with Kansas’ game on Wednesday night in the Big 12 Tournament against the winner between No. 11 Cincinnati vs. No. 14 West Virginia.
“I think it could be kind of fun, to be honest,” Self said of playing with a smaller unit.
Kansas (22-9, 10-8 Big 12) is currently projected as a 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament, per ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.
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— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) March 11, 2024
