Abdominal strain will likely sideline KU Jayhawks’ Bobby Pettiford for several weeks

Kansas freshman backup point guard Bobby Pettiford will likely be out of action the next “four or five weeks” because of an abdominal strain, Jayhawks coach Bill Self said Monday at a news conference held in advance of Tuesday’s nonconference men’s basketball game against UTEP.

Tipoff is 7 p.m. at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.

“He’s probably going to sit out a while,” Self said Monday, giving a return date of the start of the New Year and Big 12 play. “We do not know that positively. He could respond quicker than that. I think that’s what we talked to Bobby about and his family about that it could be that length of time.

“I think he agrees and everyone agrees it’s best that he gets as close to 100% than it is for him to play and hurt every day that he plays. It’s not going to give itself a chance to heal (without sitting out and getting treatment). If he is feeling better before then, where he could be out there and be full speed and not be in fear of hurting himself or feeling the pain, he’ll come back sooner. The reality is we’re probably looking around the start of the year.”

Pettiford, a 6-foot-1 native of Durham, North Carolina, has averaged 2.1 points with 11 total assists against three turnovers while playing in all seven games for 6-1 KU. He’s averaged 11.4 minutes a game.

“I think LeBron (James) missed nine games with something maybe not exactly but something similar,” Self said. “It’s not that he couldn’t go and he has gone, but it won’t give itself a chance to heal. He has a chance to be a really good guard this year, but not at 80%. He needs to be 100%.”

Asked about how this will change the rotation, Self said: “I don’t think it is going to affect it much. Joseph (Yesufu) will probably get some of his minutes. I could see ‘J. Cole’ (Jalen Coleman-Lands) getting some of his minutes too, when we play one little guard especially. In a weird way it probably simplifies your rotation but it doesn’t help your team. I’d much rather have Bobby available to us and healthy but it probably does create situations where Joseph is going into a game knowing, ‘I’m probably going to play approximately this amount of minutes.’ Sometimes guys perform better when they have that certainty that’s probably going to happen.”

Yesufu, a 6-foot sophomore from Bolingbrook, Illinois who started his college career at Drake, has averaged 3.0 points with nine assists against two turnovers total in seven games. He’s averaged 9.1 minutes a game.

“I think he’s really good on the ball. I don’t think he’s very good off the ball,” Self said, speaking of defense.

“I’d think he’d rank up there (as on the ball defender). The best we’ve had since I’ve been here is probably Jeff Hawkins as far as being an on the ball defender, applying pressure, still being able to keep him in front. Joe could be in the same category. Off the ball he is still picking stuff up. There’s a chance he could be a very good defender overall. Joe can score. Sometimes he’s focused on trying to play the way I want him to play and doesn’t play the way he is best capable of playing. I told him yesterday, ‘Guard the heck out of the ball and shoot it. Let’s simplify it.’ I think he’d be more effective that way than trying to do everything right.”

On Tuesday, Yesufu’s minutes may go up against a UTEP (4-3).

The Miners are coached by Joe Golding, who is in his first year at UTEP after leading Abilene Christian to the NCAA Tournament two of the last three seasons. KU rallied from 15 points down to defeat UTEP 67-62 last March at Allen Fieldhouse.

“They’ve definitely been saying I’ve been hesitant on a lot of things,” Yesufu said Monday, referring to his teammates. “I’m trying to do what’s best for the team, defend, do everything outside of scoring. They’ve been preaching I’ve got to do what I do best. I’ve been defending. Now it’s time to add to the offensive end,” he added, acknowledging, “I love getting steals, taking the load off people behind. Our defense still needs a lot of work. It’s definitely going to change.”