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Kansas center Joel Embiid to see a back specialist on Monday

Marcus Smart, Joel Embiid

AP Photo

AP

Andrew Wiggins went off for 41 points, corralling eight rebounds, recording five steals and blocking four shots on Saturday afternoon in the same state where he became such a highly-touted prospect.

That’s the good news for Kansas. The bad news is that the Jayhawks lost to West Virginia 92-86 as KU’s bid for a No. 1 seed took a hit. It was the second straight game the Jayhawks played without center Joel Embiid, sidelined with a back injury suffered in last week’s loss to Oklahoma State.

Embiid will fly to California to see a back specialist on Monday morning.

‘We wanted to get a second opinion and wanted to send him to the very best authority,” Self said following the game according to Gary Bedore of KUSports.com

“Hopefully we get real positive news. Hopefully he can be on the practice floor very very soon. We will not put him out there just because he feels better but because the doctors says it’s time to get back out there. Hopefully it will be real soon, if not we’ll sit him a little longer. We still don’t think it will affect (his participation in) the NCAA tournament in any way.”

Kansas is as talented as any team in the country. Though the Jayhawks, like many teams, still face questions heading into postseason play. Kansas’ point guard play and Embiid’s back are two major ones moving forward.

However, Wiggins’ offensive outburst -- along with his defensive presence -- gave Kansas fans a silver lining on Saturday in the regular season finale. Kansas has dropped two of three games in March so far, but consider it a win for the Jayhawks if they can get a positive update on Embiid’s back, getting their star center back on the floor as they gear up for the NCAA tournament.

Follow @terrence_payne