Ohio State is without one of its five starters.
Kyle Young will sit out the Buckeyes' first-round NCAA tournament game versus Oral Roberts due to a concussion he suffered one week ago in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament, Eleven Warriors learned Friday morning, hours before the No. 2 seed in the South Regional will tip off as 16.5-point favorites.
It's unclear when Young will be back in action for the Buckeyes. If they beat the Golden Eagles, they'd face either Florida or Virginia Tech on Sunday.
Chris Holtmann, the fourth-year head coach, remained mum on his status throughout the week leading up to the opening-round matchup, saying he continued to go through medical protocols. Now, it's clear Ohio State will have to beat Oral Roberts without Young.
The absence of the fourth-year forward from Canton in two conference tournament games last weekend led Holtmann to insert Musa Jallow into the starting five alongside Duane Washington Jr., Justin Ahrens, Justice Sueing and E.J. Liddell. Seth Towns played 49 minutes across that pair of Young-less games, too. Since Oral Roberts is one of the smaller teams Ohio State has played all season, Jallow and Towns should see extended run once again.
Liddell will, per usual, play the majority of minutes at center. Zed Key could have a more limited role than usual since the Golden Eagles lack any traditional, low-post center in their regular rotation.
