Kansas State guard Tylor Perry (2) gets under Kansas center Hunter Dickinson (1) and Kansas guard Kevin McCullar Jr. (15) for an acrobatic bucket during overtime on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024 at Bramlage Coliseum. Photo by Nick Krug

Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar Jr. will not play in the Big 12 Conference basketball tournament, Kansas coach Bill Self said on his “Hawk Talk” radio show Monday night.

However, Self said that the plan is for Dickinson, who dislocated his shoulder at Houston Saturday, and McCullar, who has been dealing with a bone bruise to his knee over the course of nearly two months, both to return to practice in full at the start of next week.

“We should be the most healthy we’ve been in a long time when the NCAA Tournament starts,” he said.

Dickinson hurt his right shoulder going up for a rebound in the blowout loss to Houston and then got an MRI. Self said he was relieved by the results.

“There’s no surgery,” Self said. “He did not tear his labrum. Actually he’s far better off than what the doctors and the trainers even imagined. He’s got good range of motion, he’s already started rehab, all those things.”

He added that Dickinson may still be able to get shots up to stay in rhythm because he’s left-handed, and that he shouldn’t be encumbered when he returns to action.

As for McCullar, who has missed intermittent games since the end of January, Self had previously stated that he regretted playing him against Houston. He left the game after a scoreless half.

“He didn’t really do anything (in practice) between the K-State game (last Tuesday) and the Houston game but was feeling very good in warmups — because we said it’d be a game-time decision if he was feeling very good — and then when he got out there he didn’t feel like he could perform,” Self said Monday.

He pointed out that if McCullar can come back at full strength next week, he’ll be able to practice much more consistently than he has of late, when he’s “been only getting maybe one practice in a week.”

“Everyone thinks that the time off will obviously help him,” Self said. “He will play in the NCAA Tournament as well.”

In the meantime, KU will be down to seven scholarship players for the conference tournament this week in Kansas City, Mo. The plan as Self outlined is for the 6-foot-7 KJ Adams to probably start at center as he did last season, 6-foot-9 Johnny Furphy to play power forward, 6-foot-4 Nick Timberlake to play small forward and “Elmarko (Jackson) will get the chance to be out there a lot.” That leaves point guard Dajuan Harris Jr. as the remaining starter with Parker Braun and Jamari McDowell coming off the bench.

“It’s going to look a lot different and we’re going to be tiny,” Self said, while acknowledging that it also “could be kind of fun.”

He pointed out that the members of the “ridiculously small” lineup will have a chance to be more aggressive than they have been in the past.

“That’s what he was preaching all day today in practice, just play fast and let it go,” Timberlake said on “Hawk Talk,” “He’s expecting me to get off a bunch of shots, so I’m pretty excited about that.”

Timberlake added that he hopes he and his teammates can set a strong example this week at the T-Mobile Center, and so “hopefully when Hunt and Kevin get back, the bench is just flowing like we were this upcoming week.”