Kansas head coach Bill Self reacts on the sideline during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla., Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Mitch Alcala)

Stillwater, Okla. — The fifth-ranked Kansas men’s basketball program was closer to full strength again for Tuesday’s road test at Oklahoma State.

After being limited to eight scholarship players in a home win over Texas last week and just nine at Oklahoma, Kansas had 11 scholarship players available for Tuesday’s game with OSU.

Big men Zach Clemence and Zuby Ejiofor and backup point guard Bobby Pettiford Jr. returned to action in this one, with all three going through both rounds of pregame warm-ups.

The only KU players not available on Tuesday were super-senior big man Cam Martin (shoulder) and redshirt freshman Kyle Cuffe Jr. (knee). KU coach Bill Self said recently that he did not expect either of those players to return in time to impact the rotation this season.

Ejiofor was the only one of the three previously injured Jayhawks who played during Tuesday’s first half. He checked in with 6.9 seconds to play in the half to allow Ernest Udeh Jr. to get to halftime with just two fouls.

Udeh, KJ Adams and Jalen Wilson all played the final five to six minutes of the first half with two fouls without picking up their third.

Pettiford split his time for much of the night between the bench and the stationary bike to keep his hamstring loose.

Faces in the crowd

For the second game in a row, Self had a special guest sitting close to the Kansas bench: his mother, Margaret Self, who made the trip to last weekend’s Oklahoma game and Tuesday’s clash with Oklahoma State.

Like many of the parents of current KU players, Margaret spent most of the game standing while cheering on the Jayhawks.

In addition, Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark was in attendance at Tuesday’s game between the Jayhawks and Cowboys.

Bracketology update

We’ve reached the point in the season where the glimpses and glances at postseason projections start to hold a little more weight.

In fact, this weekend, CBS will unveil its first look at the top 16 seeds in the NCAA Tournament as they stand entering the final three weeks of the season.

The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee will still have plenty of work to do, of course. But for the past few years, this early glimpse at the top of the bracket has provided a concrete look at where certain teams stand as they jockey for seeding position.

In the latest ESPN Bracketology update, Joe Lunardi wrote Tuesday that KU was the fourth No. 1 seed in his current bracket and that it would stay there even with a loss at OSU.

KU women’s coach nearing milestone

Kansas women’s basketball coach Brandon Schneider is currently one win away from his 500th career victory, and his Jayhawks will try to get it for him on Wednesday at West Virginia.

If Kansas wins, Schneider will become the 32nd active coach in Division I women’s basketball with 500 wins.

The Jayhawks are 16-7 overall and 6-6 in conference play following wins over Texas Tech and TCU.

They’ll be looking for their first three-game winning streak of the conference portion of the season and to climb above .500 for the first time in Big 12 play since Jan. 13.

West Virginia, meanwhile, also sits at 6-6 in Big 12 play and is 15-8 overall. WVU snapped a three-game losing streak in its last game, topping No. 21 Iowa State 73-60 in Morgantown.

The Jayhawks trail WVU, 16-7, in the all-time series. But KU has won three in a row over the Mountaineers, including a matchup earlier this season in which they turned a 14-point halftime deficit into a 19-point win.

Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. on Big 12 NOW via ESPN+.