LAWRENCE — The start of Kansas basketball’s path to another Big 12 Conference tournament title is clear.

Coach Bill Self’s squad entered the tournament as the No. 6 seed, with a 22-9 overall record. The Jayhawks’ opener is in the second round against the Cincinnati Bearcats (19-13), Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. (CT) inside Kansas City’s T-Mobile Center, after No. 11-seed Cincinnati topped No. 14-seed West Virginia in the first round. The winner will move on to face No. 3 seed-Baylor (22-9) on Thursday in the quarterfinals at 8:30 p.m. (CT).

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“(Next-man-up mentality)’s just got to be everybody’s mindset,” graduate senior forward Parker Braun said this past weekend. “Whether it’s injuries or not, if you’re coming off the bench you’ve got to be ready for your minutes. And you’re starting — if you’re getting thrown out there when you’re not used to it, you’ve got to make sure you’re prepared no matter who it is. We’ve all had flashes during the season.”

Kansas has struggled as the regular season came to a close, going 7-7 in its last 14 games. Although there have been some significant wins, the Jayhawks have struggled to maintain momentum — especially on the road as the recent regular season finale indicates. But over the course of the season Kansas has also shown it can compete with the best of the best, so a trip to the conference tournament semifinals Friday and farther isn’t totally out of the question.

Succeeding in the Big 12 tournament, though, will require Self and company thriving without either senior center Hunter Dickinson or graduate senior guard Kevin McCullar Jr. The duo, both All-America caliber talents, will be unavailable due to injury. That’s a lot more pressure on the likes of redshirt senior guard Dajuan Harris Jr., junior forward KJ Adams Jr. and freshman guard Johnny Furphy.

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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: Who will Kansas basketball play in Big 12 Conference tournament?