Kansas sophomore Marcus Garrett will miss his third consecutive game because of the high ankle sprain he suffered in practice one week ago.
KU coach Bill Self confirmed Garrett’s status in a meeting with reporters before Friday’s practice.
“Marcus will be out tomorrow,” Self said. “So we’re going to be down, at least some men. But we’ve still got to go out and play and just step up and play better than what we played on Tuesday.”
The Jayhawks are 2-1 without Garrett in the lineup, with a win over Texas Tech and a loss to K-State this week. Garrett also missed KU’s win over Tennessee last November after suffering a concussion in the win over Marquette.
According to Self, the combo guard from Dallas who has emerged as KU’s best defender and one of the top defensive players in the Big 12 Conference returned to practice on Thursday but went about half speed and was not able to participate fully.
“We were pretty encouraged (Thursday) and then today, he didn’t take a step backwards but he was very sore,” Self said Friday. “… We’re hopeful that he can practice Sunday, maybe Monday. But the reality of it is we’re looking at next Saturday (as the) best-case scenario (for a return).”
Garrett’s injury and the recent leave of absence taken by senior guard Lagerald Vick leaves the Jayhawks with just 8 healthy and eligible scholarship players for Saturday’s game.
Asked if Garrett was in good spirits despite sitting out to nurse the injury, Self scoffed.
“Yeah,” he said. “He’s tough. He’s the toughest kid we’ve got. And if he could play, he’d play. There’s just no chance of that right now.”
KU hosts Oklahoma State at 11 a.m. on Saturday and will travel to TCU for a Big Monday matchup at 8 p.m. Monday night.
The Jayhawks then will be off the rest of next week until hosting West Virginia on Feb. 16.
