The Tigers will welcome Kansas into town on Sunday for another edition of the Border War. But one huge question mark still lingers, and that's the health of star Jayhawk Darryn Peterson.
The freshman has missed the last seven games for Kansas due to a hamstring injury, but could be trending in the right direction to play against Missouri. Jayhawk coach Bill Self provided an update earlier this week on the top NBA prospect.
"He’s 90-95%,” Self said. “But he wasn’t 100. I said all along, we are not going to play him until he is. It was as much my decision as anything, but I also sensed he wasn’t quite there yet.”
“He had a really good day today,” Self said on Tuesday. “Tomorrow [Wednesday] will be his off day and then, hopefully, if there’s no setbacks he will be practicing with us on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, full speed.”
Will Mizzou get Kansas at full strength this weekend?
Kansas is a completely different team with Peterson on the floor, and if he's able to return for Sunday's matchup, the Tigers could have their hands full. Still, there's been no sign that Peterson will be ready by then, or even for the remainder of the season. There's always a chance he shuts things down to focus on preparing for the NBA draft.
Missouri is coming off of a tough loss to Notre Dame and another defeat against the Jayhawks would put the a damper on an otherwise strong non-conference stretch. Regardless, of whether or not Peterson sees action, Mizzou absolutely needs to see a rebound performance.
The game against No. 21 Kansas will air on ESPNU at 12:00PM Central.