Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann announced during his Friday afternoon media availability that guards Meechie Johnson and Eugene Brown III will be game-time decisions for tomorrow’s trip to Michigan.
“We’ll know more about those guys (after today’s practice),” Holtmann said.
The 6-foot-2 and 172-pound Johnson suffered an apparent ankle injury in the second half of Wednesday night’s 66-64 loss at Rutgers when he stepped the foot of sophomore forward Zed Key. He was helped off the court by his teammates at the next timeout, not putting any weight on his left leg.
Johnson briefly headed to the locker room before retuning to the bench, but did not reenter the game in the final minutes. He’s averaging 6.0 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 17 games this season, including five starts.
The 6-foot-6 and 195-pound Brown, meanwhile, missed Sunday’s 82-67 win over Maryland and the loss at Rutgers as he continues to deal with a lingering toe injury. He’s averaging 3.4 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.5 assists in 14 games off the bench, though he missed four games earlier this season with a concussion.
The Wolverines, meanwhile, are coming off an 82-58 win over No. 3 Purdue on Thursday night, their biggest win of the season.
“Obviously, (it’s a) great challenge here with a team that’s playing really well,” Holtmann said. “It’s a talented group that’s well coached, has tremendous depth and talent across the board and is playing as well as they’ve played all year, for sure.”
This is the first of two meetings this year between Ohio State and Michigan, with tipoff at Crisler Center set for 6 p.m. on ESPN. The Wolverines will then come to Columbus on March 6 for the regular season finale.
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