There were stretches Wednesday, in the second half, that Kansas basketball had to try to mount a comeback without KJ Adams.
Adams, a veteran forward and starter for the Jayhawks, appeared to suffer an upper-body injury while attempting to make a stop defensively in the second half with a bit less than 16 minutes remaining. Although he’d soon return to the game a few minutes later, after exiting the floor, a handful of minutes after that he was substituted out of the game and never returned. Not having him at full strength, and not having him at all at times, contributed to why No. 10 Kansas suffered a 74-57 loss on the road against No. 2 Iowa State.
But looking ahead, is this going to be an injury that keeps Adams out for any period of time? Is this going to be something that he’s able to recover from quickly enough, to play again Saturday at home against rival Kansas State? Postgame, KU head coach Bill Self updated reporters on Adams’ status.
RELATED: Kansas basketball falls well short in opportunity for top-10 road win against Iowa State
“He hurt his shoulder, so I don’t know how significant it is or how much time he’ll miss,” Self said, according to a press conference video from the Lawrence Journal-World. “But he obviously couldn’t go there, when he came back in, so I hope it’s not significant and hopefully he won’t miss time. But I think we probably will be very lucky if that’s the case.”
Adams finished the game with four points on 1-for-5 shooting from the field, with a pair of made free throws. He also had six rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block, to go along with a few fouls and a turnover. He had his moments, on a night when Kansas — with or without him — couldn’t muster the performance necessary to capture a pivotal road victory.
Big 12 Conference play will continue to challenge the Jayhawks (12-4, 3-2 in Big 12), as it did Wednesday against the Cyclones (15-1, 5-0 in Big 12). It will present an even more formidable challenge if Adams, a 16-game starter who averages close to 30 minutes per game, can’t play for a period of time. It’s not just that Adams is averaging 8.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, and does so much else that doesn’t show up in a box score even if offensively he isn’t someone who spaces the floor, it’s that if he’s unavailable Kansas’ depth takes a considerable hit.
However long Adams is unavailable, if at all, there will be more pressure on the likes of veteran guards like AJ Storr and Rylan Griffen to step up more consistently than they have to this point this season. The same goes for forward Flory Bidunga, who’s thriving in his first year in college for the most part but is still a freshman. Remember, an experienced returner and forward in Zach Clemence has not played since a mid-December win at home against NC State due to injury, which has already limited the team’s options in the front court.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: How serious is Kansas basketball forward KJ Adams’ shoulder injury?
