LAWRENCE — Kansas basketball’s 2023-24 season continues Tuesday with another Big 12 Conference matchup at home, this time against BYU.

Here are a few keys to the matchup to think about before the No. 9 Jayhawks (21-6, 9-5 in Big 12) tip off at 7 p.m. (CT) against the Cougars (19-8, 7-7 in Big 12):

Nicolas Timberlake must continue to showcase improvement

Graduate senior guard Nicolas Timberlake enjoyed one of his best games of the season this past Saturday, as he helped Kansas to a win at home against Texas. He set a new season-high in minutes, while tying his season-best in points and playing much better on the defensive end. And if graduate senior guard Kevin McCullar Jr.’s absence — due to injury — continues far past Tuesday’s game against BYU, the Jayhawks will need to continue to see games like that from Timberlake.

Timberlake has been the guy coach Bill Self has turned to as the fifth starter recently when McCullar has been unavailable. Although Timberlake struggled often for much of the season, after transferring in from Towson, it appears he’s starting to gain a lot more comfort playing at Kansas. And he acknowledged being in the starting lineup has changed his mindset.

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“It’s more of just being in attack mode from the jump, rather than having to sit on the bench for a little bit and then get warmed up and go back out,” Timberlake said. “But I mean it’s coming from warmups and then getting right out there and playing — not really thinking as much has definitely helped.”

Kansas needs to be aware of BYU’s 3-point shooting

These are two very different offensive teams that are going to be playing Tuesday. Kansas, on average, shoots 6.0-for-17.2 per game from behind the arc. BYU, on average, shoots 11.4-for-32.4 per game from behind the arc.

The Cougars rely on 3s offensively almost twice as much per game as the Jayhawks do, and both Self and Timberlake know it. Timberlake seemed to describe it as a challenge to defend at the level they believe they are capable of defending. Self noted BYU is going to have a collection of 3-point shooters on the court regardless of the substitutions the Cougars make, and that Kansas will have to defend from the outside in.

Even while out, Kevin McCullar Jr.’s involvement is key

Self reiterated Monday that McCullar would not play Tuesday against BYU. That means McCullar will miss a fifth game overall this season, and his second in a row. But McCullar’s experience still makes him a valuable member of the team regardless of if he plays again this season or not.

Self, who volunteered McCullar has maintained a positive attitude, described McCullar as another assistant coach at this point. Self pointed out that McCullar has been helpful for the guys who might not be playing as many minutes as others, and at one point during a timeout he had to tell McCullar to be quiet. Pair that with a group of guys who can step up while McCullar is out, and Kansas will be in a much better position to be able to navigate this time without him.

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“We obviously all want (McCullar) to come back,” Timberlake said. “He’s such a huge part of this team and has put us in the position where we’re at today. So, I mean, just like I said I mean we all hope he comes back. But just next-man-up mentality.”

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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 will Kansas basketball be able to beat BYU for a Big 12 win?