March Madness: What Kevin McCullar Jr.’s Absence Means for Kansas in the NCAA Men’s Tournament

The Jayhawks will miss a secondary ballhandler and could struggle against the defensive pressure of their first-round opponent, Samford.

One of the best players in men’s college basketball is out for the NCAA tournament.

Kansas Jayhawks wing Kevin McCullar Jr., one of two high-major players in the country who averaged better than 18 points, six rebounds and four assists per game this season, is out for the Big Dance, coach Bill Self announced Tuesday evening. McCullar had been nursing a nagging knee injury that caused him to miss the Jayhawks’ Big 12 conference tournament loss against the Cincinnati Bearcats and has had him in and out of the lineup since late January.

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“Kevin [McCullar] says his knee pain has not subsided any and it’s too bad for him to be able to contribute,” Self said. “We’re shutting him down for the tournament.”

McCullar posted a statement to social media shortly after the news was announced.

It’s a massive blow to a Kansas team that enters the Big Dance on a low, losers of four of five. That included consecutive 20-plus-point defeats at the hands of the Houston Cougars and Cincinnati, the first time under Self KU has lost two straight games by such a margin. The Jayhawks also didn’t have All-American center Hunter Dickinson in the Cincinnati loss, though Self did confirm Dickinson is on track to play Thursday night against the Samford Bulldogs.

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McCullar’s impact on the Jayhawks is substantial, and magnified by Kansas’s lack of depth. The Jayhawks rank No. 318 out of 362 teams in bench minutes, and upping minutes for freshman Elmarko Jackson or grad transfer Nick Timberlake has tended to be a bad sign for Kansas. Per Hoop Explorer, Kansas has been 17 points per 100 possessions worse against top-100 teams with McCullar out of the game, with the Jayhawks’ ball security and offensive efficiency particularly slipping. Dickinson also has struggled in games without McCullar out there creating space, shooting just 43% from the field in games McCullar hasn’t played, according to CJ Moore of The Athletic.

McCullar will miss the NCAA tournament, a blow to Kansas’s chances at the national championship :: Annie Rice/Avalanche-Journal/USA TODAY Network

Kansas will miss McCullar’s experience and ability to handle the ball in its first-round date with Samford. The Bulldogs, coached by Bucky McMillan, play one of the most aggressive defensive styles of any team in the field, pressing full-court for essentially the entire game and ranking in the top 20 nationally in forcing turnovers. Against that type of defense, having a player like McCullar who can operate comfortably as a secondary ballhandler is essential, and forcing freshmen like Jackson, Johnny Furphy and even Jamari McDowell to face the pressure Samford will bring is a scary sight. Self hasn’t had a team lose in the first round of the Big Dance since 2006, but an early exit is very much on the table without McCullar.

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If nothing else, his absence would seemingly rule out a deep run by the Jayhawks in a season they entered with such high expectations. Kansas was the preseason No. 1 team in the AP Top 25 poll and beat the Kentucky Wildcats, Tennessee Volunteers and tournament overall No. 1 seed UConn Huskies in the season’s first month before fading down the stretch. Even if the Jayhawks can get by Samford, neither the Gonzaga Bulldogs nor McNeese State Cowboys would be an easy game. From there, a potential date with the Purdue Boilermakers looms in the Sweet 16. Assuming Kansas doesn’t win the national championship, KU will end the season with 11 losses, the most by the program since the 1988–89 season and the most by Self since 1997–98 when he was the coach at Oral Roberts.