There’s an apparent reason for that—the KU freshman center is dealing with a sprained knee and soreness in his back, the Kansas City Star reports. Coach Bill Self said the injuries could keep him out of action for a time.
“I don’t know,” Self said, per the Star report. “We’re going to re-evaluate. We’ve known since last week that we were just going to try to get through (K-State on Monday). There’s nothing structurally that he’s dealing with, but he’s beat up, obviously.
“His body has taken a toll here the last two or three weeks.”
Kansas’ next two games—at home vs. TCU and at Texas Tech, teams that are a combined 4-16 in Big 12 play—offer some respite of what can be a very tough Big 12 grind.
The Jayhawks should be able to survive without Embiid in the short term because of their great frontcourt depth, but they are a much better team when Embiid is a force in the paint.
Only five weeks remain before the start of the NCAA Tournament, and with the Jayhawks having real hopes of a national title, it makes sense for Kansas to rest Embiid now. KU must hope that treatment brings him back closer to 100 percent come crunch time.
