Ohio State announced on Friday morning that sophomore forward Zed Key and fifth-year senior forward Kyle Young will be available for this afternoon’s NCAA Tournament game against Loyola Chicago. Both players were previously considered a game-time decision.
“We’re getting healthier,” head coach Chris Holtmann said during his media availability on Thursday. “We’ll know more on Kyle and Zed here tomorrow, but they are getting healthier.
“The final decision will be made tomorrow. We have seen them do a little more, but it’s not like they’ve been able to do full practices. They have been able to do a little more, which has been encouraging to see despite not being able to do full practices.”
Key suffered an ankle injury in the Feb. 27 loss at Maryland and missed three of the last four games. He attempted to play in the regular season finale against Michigan on March 6, scoring four points and four rebounds in seven minutes off the bench, but left the game after reaggravating the injury.
Young, meanwhile, has been sidelined for the last three games after leaving the March 1 loss to Nebraska with an undisclosed illness, later revealed to be a concussion. He notably suffered a pair of late-season concussions that kept him out of the first-round NCAA Tournament loss to Oral Roberts, as well.
Key is averaging 8.1 points and 5.4 rebounds in 27 games (23 starts) this season, while you is averaging 8.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 25 games (two starts). In their absences, sixth-year senior Joey Brunk averaging 12.0 points and 6.3 rebounds in 29 minutes over his last three games.
Tipoff of today’s matchup between the seventh-seeded Buckeyes and No. 10 seed Ramblers at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh is set for 12:15 p.m. on CBS.
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