photo by: Nick Krug/Journal-World photo

Kansas guard Bobby Pettiford Jr. (0) lays out for a loose-ball steal against Pittsburg State during the first half of an exhibition on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Kansas basketball coach Bill Self said Thursday that his team was the healthiest it has been in a while and that both forward Cam Martin (shoulder) and guard Bobby Pettiford (groin) are expected to be available for Saturday’s game at Missouri.

Whether they play, or how much they play, remains to be seen. But Self said he was happy to have them at his disposal.

If Martin plays against the Tigers — 4:30 p.m. Saturday on ESPN in Columbia — it will mark his first action of the season. The super-senior forward separated his right shoulder in the days leading up to the Jayhawks’ exhibition game with Pittsburg State.

He did not require surgery and is back practicing a little earlier than even he expected. What that means for his chance to earn meaningful minutes or a spot in the KU rotation is not yet known.

“I think it’ll go well,” Self said of Martin’s return. “I just don’t know how much of a role he’ll have immediately. He’s been healthy and good in practice, but he hasn’t done anything in four or five weeks, so I don’t know how comfortable he’ll be immediately. That’s kind of a tough situation just to get thrown in, but I think he’ll do fine.”

Self said he was not counting on Martin to handle a major role yet and was more interested in seeing how well the 6-foot-9, 230-pound forward who has not played a game in almost two full years shakes off the rust and fits into what the sixth-ranked Jayhawks (8-1) want to do.

“When guys get hurt and they come back after an extended a period of time, I don’t think we should look at how does he help us win this next game,” Self said Thursday. “I think you look at it (as) will he be in rhythm by conference season? I think the answer will be yes (and) hopefully that rhythm comes immediately, but I don’t know that you can always bank on it.”

KU’s first conference game is slated for Dec. 31 at home against Oklahoma State.

Pettiford, who had been operating as Dajuan Harris Jr.’s primary back up at point guard and often been the first guard off the bench, missed two games and most of a third after injuring his groin in KU’s loss to Tennessee in the Bahamas.

Self said last week that the groin was not torn and that Kansas wanted to give Pettiford time to rest so that the injury could heal instead of getting worse. That plan included Pettiford missing some practice time, but he has been back this week and appears to be ready to return.

“Bobby should go unless he has a setback today or tomorrow,” Self said Thursday.

Through KU’s first nine games, Pettiford has appeared in seven of them, averaging 3 points with 16 total steals in 15.4 minutes per game. His biggest contribution, of course, was the game-winning shot in overtime against Wisconsin in the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas.

That leaves Kansas with just two players on its injury list — redshirt freshman Kyle Cuffe Jr. (knee) and walk-on freshman Wilder Evers (foot). Self said Evers had surgery on Monday to repair a stress fracture and Cuffe is expected to be out several more weeks while recovering from MCL and PCL damage.

With the Jayhawks at full strength for the rematch of last year’s 102-65 win over Missouri at Allen Fieldhouse, Self said his players and coaches were expecting a wild atmosphere this weekend at Mizzou Arena.

And although this is just the second game between the two longtime bitter rivals since 2012, Self said the memories of all of those past matchups remain fresh in his mind.

“Missouri-Illinois is a good rivalry,” said Self, who was 3-0 against the Tigers during his time at Illinois. “But I thought there was a little bit of respect in that rivalry. With Kansas-Missouri, from a fan standpoint, I don’t know if there’s as much respect as there is flat-out dislike or hate. And I think that’s what makes it a great rivalry.”