LAWRENCE — Kansas basketball will be without graduate senior guard Kevin McCullar Jr. and freshman guard Jamari McDowell on Saturday in Big 12 Conference play against Baylor.

McCullar and McDowell did player earlier in the week for the No. 4 Jayhawks (18-5, 6-4 in Big 12) but won't be available against the No. 13 Bears (17-5, 6-3 in Big 12). That means Kansas will be without one of its regular starters, McCullar, and one of the guys to which it could turn off the bench for a spark, McDowell. And that puts the Jayhawks at seven scholarship players being available for their game against Baylor.

Look for the likes of freshman guard Elmarko Jackson and graduate senior guard Nicolas Timberlake to have more significant roles for Kansas on Saturday. Jackson has been a starter in the past this season and stepped up in a Jan. 30 win at home against Oklahoma State when McCullar missed that game. Timberlake has always come off the bench but flashed the potential at times of someone who could earn a bigger role.

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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: Kevin McCullar Jr., Jamari McDowell miss Kansas basketball vs. Baylor