Kansas will have to play TCU without Joel Embiid, but the good news is the Jayhawks will not be without their freshman sensation center for long.
According to ESPN, the MRI on Embiid's back did not find a major injury but his coach, Bill Self, said the young center will rest Saturday. Embiid is also nursing a sore knee, which is contributing to Self resting his starting center.
"It didn't come back with anything major," Self said of the MRI. "He'll be back soon. It's not going to be long."
Kansas has lost two of their last four games, most recently an 85-82 overtime defeat at the hands of Kansas State. The bright side for the Jayhawks is those have been the only two losses they have had in Big 12 play. Still, to maintain their lead in the conference and grab a one seed in the tournament, Kansas will need their dominant big man to be fully healthy.
"His back has gotten a lot better," Self said, according to the Kansas City Star, "but it's still not where the doctors feel it needs to be."
Embiid could not practice Wednesday and was clearly not fully recovered Thursday. Embiid has played an average of 22 minutes per game and is averaging 10.7 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.2 blocks. His low-post presence also attracts defense away from the team's leading scorers Andrew Wiggins and Perry Ellis.
"He's not exploding," Self said Thursday. "He's looking around to see if he's going to get hit as opposed to initiating contact because he's sore and hurts in different areas, and so, yeah, I think there's certainly some signs that he hasn't been himself."
After TCU, Kansas plays Texas Tech on Tuesday and Texas next Saturday. It is unclear if Embiid will be healthy for those games, but it is reasonable to believe he will be rested longer than what is recommended.
