Kansas Basketball: Udoka Azubuike injury costly for Jayhawks

The Kansas Jayhawks will be without Udoka Azubuike for the Big 12 Tournament this week, perhaps stretching into the NCAA Tournament.

Udoka Azubuike remains one of the most underrated players in college basketball.

Unfortunately for the Kansas Jayhawks, his true value may be revealed when the team has to play on without him this week.

The young big man suffered a sprained MCL in his left knee during a scrimmage this week, according to a release (h/t ESPN). Coach Bill Self already ruled him out for the conference tournament, which began Wednesday; the top-seeded Jayhawks play the winner between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State on Thursday.

The 7-foot center has been a valuable presence in the paint this season. Azubuike averages 13.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. The Nigerian sophomore also blocks 1.8 shots per game and shoots .774 from the field.

His shooting percentage leads the nation by a healthy margin.

The leaps and bounds he has made on the offensive end this season reveal themselves through the advanced stats. Sports-Reference notes Azubuike – who made six starts last season – wasn’t worth a single offensive win share last season. This season, he’s been worth 2.6. Additionally, his offensive box plus/minus rose by 8.5 points this season.

Azubuike played in all 31 games this season, allowing Self to deploy a consistent cog in his lineup. Self was rewarded by a player with the fourth-best rebound percentage in the conference (third-best on the offensive boards) and four wins shares, good for top ten in the Big 12.

Nobody else on the Kansas roster is seven feet tall. The next tallest players on the roster are 6-foot-9 Dedric Lawson (out this year due to transfer) and 6-foot-9 forward Silvio de Sousa, who joined midway through the year and averages just 4.3 minutes per game.

In other words, Self is going to need to go small.

The coach maintained that Azubuike would likely be back for the NCAA Tournament; the Jayhawks should open their tourney run next Thursday or Friday.

Next: 2018 Big 12 Conference Tournament Breakdown

This weekend, however, should prove just how valuable Udoka Azubuike is to Kansas.