Kansas basketball injury report vs Iowa State, 27 January: Latest on Kevin McCullar, Tamin Lipsey and more

When No. 7 Kansas and No. 23 Iowa State battle this afternoon in a collision of ranked Big 12 teams, injuries will certainly matter, particularly with key players like Kevin McCullar and Tamin Lipsey.

Here's the latest on the health status of two strong squads, albeit also two teams with their fair share of midseason bangs and bruises.

Kansas

Kansas guard Kevin McCullar is battling knee soreness today against Iowa State.

The good news for the Jayhawks is that their injuries are of the bump and bruise nature rather than anything serious. Standout guard Kevin McCullar has a sore knee, something Bill Self discussed earlier this week.

At that point, the plan was for McCullar to take it easy in practice but not miss any game time. That remains the situation, with McCullar, a National Player of the Year candidate, looking to play on. He did shoot 5-for-17 in his last game, and his knee injury is worth a watch.

Similarly, Kansas big man Hunter Dickinson has battled his own knee problems, two weeks ago admitting after a game that both of his knees were sore. Like McCullar, Dickinson isn't slated to miss any time.

But Dickinson hasn't been at his sharpest lately like McCullar, scoring just 10 points in Kansas's last game at Cincinnati.

So far, none of KU's top players has missed any time, aside from Johnny Furphy sitting out a game for a family commitment.

Iowa State

The big story for Iowa State is point guard Tamin Lipsey. Lipsey missed the Cyclones' win over TCU with a shoulder sprain. Lipsey leads Iowa State in scoring (14.1 points per game) and assists (5.6 assists per game). The good news for Iowa State was that Lipsey returned for Wednesday's game against Kansas State.

While he shot just 2-for-10, Lipsey was able to play 34 minutes and rack up six assists to go with eight points. He is good to go against the Jayhawks, but it will be interesting to see if his shooting continues to struggle.

On the season, Lipsey is connecting on 44% of his shots, including 37% from three-point range. Again, on Wednesday, he was 2-for-10, including 0-for-2 from long distance.

The Cyclones have a trio of players who will definitely be out against Kansas, although none of these are new situations, and only one involves injury.

Freshman center JT Rock will miss the season and guard Jelani Hamilton likewise will sit out, redshirting for a year of maturity and growth. The third missing Cyclone is freshman forward Kayden Fish, who injured his shoulder last month and will miss the rest of the season.

Fish played in only four games, scoring six points and grabbing six rebounds. The 6-foot-6 freshman should be able to claim a medical redshirt for the season.

With the exception of Lipsey's recent issues and an early foot injury to forward Hason Ward, from which he has recovered, Iowa State should be relatively healthy headed into today's game.