LAWRENCE — Kansas basketball’s road game Saturday at Oklahoma is going to be a test for the Jayhawks.

No. 7 Kansas (19-6, 7-5 in Big 12) has struggled mightily on the road this season during Big 12 Conference play. The tied-for-No. 21 Sooners (18-7, 6-6 in Big 12) are 13-2 at home. The Jayhawks’ win last month in Lawrence the last time these two sides played feels like it happened a lot longer ago than that.

But while Kansas has gone through the last two games without either graduate senior guard Kevin McCullar Jr. or freshman guard Jamari McDowell, it seems possible both will return to action for this upcoming matchup. Coach Bill Self had an air of optimism when he talked about their availability that he didn’t have in recent days. So, the Jayhawks are in line to be in much better position than they have been in the last couple of games — a close win at home against No. 13 Baylor and a crushing defeat on the road against Texas Tech.

“I’m anticipating that hopefully both will,” Self said Thursday. “Jamari shouldn’t be an issue at all, and depending on how Kevin feels through practice on Thursday, and if he’s able to continue to go on Friday, I would anticipate him being able to be out there some. I don’t know the exact role, or how much he’ll play, but he practiced (Wednesday) we just put it real short.”

McCullar would provide Kansas both a top scoring option and one of its best defenders. McDowell would provide Kansas with depth off the bench, and someone who’s shown in the past they can be a spark if given the opportunity. Regardless, it would mean a lot if the Jayhawks can have nine scholarship players available instead of seven.

Against Oklahoma, Kansas won’t have the benefit of playing inside Allen Fieldhouse again. Instead, the Jayhawks will be playing in front of a crowd inside the Lloyd Noble Center that has its sights set on a Sooners win. Even if Oklahoma isn’t at full strength, Kansas’ recent win against Baylor shows how a home environment can play a part in making up for that.

McCullar especially is someone, as Jayhawks senior center Hunter Dickinson mentioned Thursday, who can relieve pressure for the other players on the court. That goes for what McCullar excels at defensively and offensively. In the last week, Dickinson’s gotten a better understanding of what it’s like to play without McCullar, and what he wants to see from his teammates who have been available.

“I think just, in terms of learning without (McCullar), it’s just obviously his importance and how important he is to the team,” Dickinson said. “Because he does so much offensively, defensively, from a leadership standpoint, to where we definitely miss him out there. But just for guys to continue staying confident, I would say. Don’t lose the confidence no matter how much you’re playing. I think that’s something that I can take with me as well.”

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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: KU's Bill Self is optimistic about Kevin McCullar Jr., Jamari McDowell