Joel Embiid to sit final two games

— -- Kansas coach Bill Self said Monday that freshman big man Joel Embiid will sit out the No. 8 Jayhawks' final two regular-season games due to a back injury.

The Jayhawks (22-7, 13-3 Big 12) play Texas Tech on Wednesday night and finish the regular season at West Virginia on Saturday. Kansas has already clinched the conference's regular-season title, its 10th in a row.

"I think he could return for the Big 12 tournament," Self told ESPN.com. "But it shouldn't impact the NCAA tournament."

Embiid missed the Jayhawks' Feb. 15 victory over TCU after injuring his back. He played in the team's next three games but was re-injured during the second half of this weekend's 72-65 loss at Oklahoma State.

"We've ... spoken with experts with this particular injury and have been told the same thing we were told before, rest is the best remedy," Self said in a statement.

"It should not be an injury that keeps him out for the rest of the season," Self continued. "Last time he was off five days and that worked very nicely for him and he was able to come back and be 100 percent."

The 7-foot Cameroon native is averaging 11.2 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game. He is widely considered to be a front-runner to be taken No. 1 overall in June's NBA draft if he elects to leave college after one season, having surpassed fellow freshman and Kansas teammate Andrew Wiggins along the way.