Ohio State Basketball: Freshmen must step up if Young misses time
By David Wysong
A day after the football team lost to Clemson in Fiesta Bowl, the Ohio State basketball team lost its second game of the season to West Virginia 67-59.
It has been a tough few days for Ohio State sports fans, and now it just keeps getting worse for the Ohio State basketball team after their loss to the No. 22 West Virginia Mountaineers.
After their loss, Adam Jardy of the Columbus Dispatch reported that forward Kyle Young is being evaluated for appendicitis and could have surgery as early as Monday.
This is what Jardy wrote.
"Sunday, the 6-foot-8, 205-pound Young started for No. 2 Ohio State against No. 22 West Virginia in what would be a 67-59 Mountaineers win despite throwing up immediately before the opening tip, coach Chris Holtmann said afterward. With the team staff keeping a close eye on what they thought was a touch of the flu, Young saw 22 minutes of playing time and finished with two points but a game-high 11 rebounds while playing in obvious discomfort."
There has not been an official announcement yet, but if Young misses some time then the Buckeyes will need some other guys to step up.
Young is fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 8.3 points per game, and is second in rebounding, grabbing down 6.8 boards per game.
Losing that hurts.
Hopefully – if he does miss time – he is not out too long, but the Buckeyes will need freshmen forwards E.J. Liddell and Alonzo Gaffney to step up in his absence.
This is certainly something Liddell can do. He is just behind Young in points per game, averaging 7.6, and is third on the team in rebounding, averaging 4.1 boards per game. This is all in fewer minutes than Young too, so these numbers will probably increase with more playing time.
Gaffney, on the other hand, has not had a lot of playing time and is only averaging 2.8 points per game and 2.4 rebounds per game. Gaffney was a four-star recruit though, so you must assume he has the ability to step up if needed.
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Losing Young is not what this team needs right now heading into 2020, but hopefully he does not miss much time and these young guys can step up in his absence. Time will tell.