Kansas head coach Bill Self told reporters that he hopes he can get “15 or 20 minutes” from sophomore center Udoka Azubuike against Seton Hall on Saturday.
Azubuike missed the Big 12 tournament following an MCL sprain, and in the Jayhawks’ first round game against Penn, he played all of three minutes.
“He practiced today,” Self said. “We went for an hour, and he was out there the majority of the minutes and actually looked pretty good. Timing may be off a little bit, and conditioning, but we certainly -- unless there’s some form of setback -- we certainly anticipate him being available tomorrow in a way that you can actually play him to try to win the game.”
Azubuike’s presence will be important against a Seton Hall team that features Angel Delgado, a preseason all-american, at the five. Mitch Lightfoot was terrific in the NCAA tournament opener in Azubuike’s stead, finishing with nine points, 11 boards and three blocks. Freshman Silvio De Sousa played just 10 minutes against Penn, but he had 16 points and 10 boards in the Big 12 title game win.