Chris Holtmann to miss Ohio State vs. New Orleans due to illness

Ohio State will be without its head coach Thursday night against New Orleans. The Buckeyes announced Chris Holtmann will miss the matchup due to an illness.

Assistant coach Jake Diebler will take Holtmann’s place for the game, which tipped off Thursday at 6 p.m. ET in Columbus. In addition, center Felix Okpara is also out with an illness.

Ohio State is off to a 9-2 start to the season, including victories over Alabama and UCLA as part of its non-conference schedule. The Buckeyes will have an opportunity to get their 10th win on Thursday — even if it’s without their head coach.

Going without Okpara will also be big for Ohio State amid his strong start to the season. He leads the team with 6.5 rebounds per game while splitting minutes with Zed Key. The expectation, according to Lettermen Row’s Andy Backstrom, is that Okpara’s absence could open the door for more opportunities for Key.

Ohio State is coming off a ‘rock fight’ against UCLA

Ohio State hasn’t played since Saturday’s victory over UCLA, which Holtmann described as a “rock fight.” The Buckeyes managed to gut out the 67-60 victory during the CBS Sports Classic, and Chris Holtmann knew it wasn’t easy considering the gritty nature of the game.

“It’s all led by this guy,” Holtmann said, pointing to Bruce Thornton. “It’s all led by him. He leads in practice every day. I’m really proud of him. They just found a way. We said it was going to be a rock fight, it was. But when you have dudes like this, you feel pretty good as a coach.”

Thornton had a big day against UCLA, scoring 13 points while pulling down seven rebounds and dishing four assists. It marked a homecoming of sorts since the game was at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, not far from Thornton’s hometown of Alpharetta.

Afterward, he surely enjoyed the victory.

“Just my teammates — we prepped the whole week, coming from Penn State and we just looked in. It was coming back home for me. If we’re going to do anything, let’s get the dub back home. So I’m really proud of my teammates, Buckeye nation, and I’m glad we got the win,” Thornton said.

Ohio State’s impressive start to the year also got some attention from AP voters. While the Buckeyes didn’t make the full AP Top 25, they still received 12 votes in the updated poll released this week.