Joel Embiid to Miss Final Two Games of Regular Season

Kansas center Joel Embiid will miss the final two games of the college basketball regular season, according to Bill Self in his weekly interview with the Time Warner Cable Sports Channel.

Embiid will be sidelined for the final home game against Texas Tech on Wednesday and the final road game against West Virginia on Saturday due to a lower back strain.

From the Lawrence Journal World:

“I think he’s OK for the long term, don’t get me wrong on that,” Self said. “I’m not really sure if in fact how long or if we’re going to need to rest him. It’s a similar thing as before, a lower back strain basically,” Self added of the injury that kept Embiid from playing in a Feb. 15 game against TCU.

Back problems have irritated Embiid since the middle of the Big 12 season. One can only hope that he gets healthy in time for postseason play, with the Big 12 Tournament coming up next week and the NCAA Tournament the week after that.

Getting healthy should be the highest priority for the Jayhawks, as their next two games appear very winnable even without Embiid. Still, I'm a bit concerned. Back issues are no joke, and have been known to follow players throughout their career. Hopefully this is just a series of minor occurrences and Embiid will be fine for the tournament and going forward with his career.

What do you guys think? Should KU be worried about its chances for the next two games now? Do they drop all the way to perhaps a three seed if they drop one of them? Are you concerned about Joel Embiid? Let us know in the comments

You can follow me on Twitter, as always, at @TJFsports.