Ben McLemore Is Practicing and Will Play Against Texas, After Ankle Injury

At a press conference on Thursday, Bill Self said that freshman guard Ben McLemore is practicing and will likely be close to 100 percent for Kansas' game on Saturday at Texas.

"I think he's fine," Self said. "He'll practice today. I think he's a little tender and sore. We just had a shooting practice yesterday, and he shot on his own, didn't do much cutting, but he'll be close to 100 percent on Saturday."

Self said he wasn't scared when he saw McLemore fall to the ground and reach for his ankle in the closing minutes of the Jayhawk's 61-44 victory over Baylor.

Concerned is a better word.

Self was concerned as he would be to see any player injured.

"Because it was Ben," Self said, "it seemed like there was a little bit of an air in the building that left."

Of course, after watching the star freshman save Kansas from a conference opening loss at home against Iowa State, Kansas fans were silent as McLemore clutched his ankle and appeared to be in great pain.

Self said that McLemore claimed to have heard a "pop" which scared him.

The ankle was ruled a Grade-1 sprain, which is the lowest level of ankle sprains. McLemore will likely have full-range of motion in the ankle and not need any kind of brace, except for extra precaution.

This is exactly the news that Kansas fans hoped to hear. McLemore will be back on the floor without any missed game time from the injury and should be unaffected by it.