No. 15 Kansas was blown off the floor on the road at No. 1 Houston on Saturday, 76–46, but the bigger story coming out of the loss is the health of star forward Hunter Dickinson.
Dickinson left the second half of the loss on Saturday with an apparent shoulder injury after he fought for an offensive rebound. He immediately grabbed his shoulder and ran towards the Jayhawks’ bench, and eventually headed to the locker room.
Hunter Dickinson just went straight to the locker room after coming down with an apparent shoulder injury after this play. Not good for Kansas, esp. with McCullar already dinged up. pic.twitter.com/XRKwoq0OBu
— Kyle Boone (@kyletheboone) March 9, 2024
Self said after the game that Dickinson dislocated his shoulder, but had it popped back in. He'll have an MRI on Sunday to confirm the severity of the injury moving forward into the Big 12 conference tournament next week.
In 30 games for Kansas this season, Dickinson has averaged 18.2 points, and 11.0 rebounds per game on 58.7% shooting. If he misses significant time, it would be a major blow for the Jayhawks on both ends of the floor as the team enters postseason play.
Dickinson isn't the only Jayhawk who exited Saturday banged up. Star guard Kevin McCullar Jr. tweaked his knee earlier this week in a win against Kansas State in Lawrence, and played through the injury in the first half of Saturday's game. However, McCullar didn't feel quite right and sat out the second half of the blowout.
Self said after the game that he wished he rested McCullar on Saturday to give him some more time to heal before the conference tournament.
The Jayhawks will need both Dickinson and McCullar at close to full health if the team wants to pursue its goal of chasing a national title this spring.
However, coming out of Saturday, there's more questions than answers regarding the health of two of the team's most important players.
