Ohio State's Roster Depleted with Young, Gaffney Out
None of Ohio State's players are old enough to have seen or even heard of it, but they're hoping the title of a 1980s sitcom -- Eight is Enough -- comes true for them tonight.
With forwards Kyle Young (ankle) and Alonzo Gaffney (illness) unable to play in a 9 p.mn. game at Nebraska, the Buckeyes will be down to eight scholarship players and walk-ons Danny Hummer and Harrison Hookfin
OSU (19-8, 8-8) is already without freshman guard D.J. Carton (mental health leave), junior guard Musa Jallow (ankle) and California transfer Justice Sueing.
Jallow and Sueing have been unavailable all season as redshirts.
Carton's absence since January 30 had already restricted OSU coach Chris Holtmann to three guards -- Luther Muhammad, Duane Washington and C.J. Walker.
Muhammad has battled a shoulder injury, but is coming off a season-high 22 points in a 79-72 upset of No. 7 Maryland.
Young suffered a right ankle sprain with four minutes left in the first half of that win and will miss his third game this season.
OSU lost both previous games he sat out following an appendectomy.
Young's minutes will likely fall heavily on freshman E.J. Liddell, who scored 17 points two games ago at Iowa and who played well as Young's backup against Maryland.
Young is one of four Ohio State starters to miss time this season because of injury. The others are Andre Wesson, Washington and Carton. Muhammad and Washington also missed a game via suspension.
"It's an unfortunate thing," Holtmann said. "(Young) has had a go of it. He and our team have had a go of it when it comes to injuries. There's no question that's the case. He' obviously a very important part of what we do, and playing well against Nebraska the last time we had them."
OSU defeated the Cornhuskers (80-68) on Jan. 14 in Columbus to break a four-game losing streak. Young had 10 points and six rebounds in that win, the first game in which he appeared fully recovered from the removal of his appendix.
Nebraska (7-20, 2-14) has lost 12 in a row under first-year coach Fred Hoiberg.
It may get leading scorer Cam Mack back for OSU after he sat out a loss Monday at Illinois with an illness.
"I think the real question will be how do we respond to this going on the road where we've not performed the last couple games, and what's going to be our response," Holtmann said. "Are we going to somehow be complacent with (the Maryland game)? I think that's really going to test the maturity of our group."
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