Chris Holtmann provides injury update on two Ohio State key forwards

Ohio State was able to get past Michigan State 80-69 on Thursday night without two key players, Zed Key and Kyle Young. After the win, Buckeyes head coach Chris Holtmann talked about the possibility of securing a double-bye for his team in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament.

“Certainly, there’s some important stuff with that, with our injury situation. I don’t know when those guys are going to be back right now. I really couldn’t give you an update on when they’re gonna be back. So yeah, it’s important. It’s important…but it’s obviously not the be all, end all. I want to improve in the areas we need to improve in as we head to the postseason,” Holtmann said.

It’ll be interesting to see when and if the Buckeyes can get Young and Key back in their lineup. After the game, Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo did not have good things to say about the Ohio State fan base.

Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo was not happy with the Ohio State fans

The Spartans head coach believed the Buckeyes should be disappointed in their crowd on Thursday night. Following the road loss, Izzo called out Ohio State’s fans in his postgame press conference while also expressing shock at how well Jamari Wheeler shot the ball from 3-point range.

“I was disappointed in their fans,” the head coach said. “I thought the way his team has played and how hard they play, this place should be rocking and packed. For them to come out and play like they did and hit the shots they — (EJ) Liddell hit a couple of threes and he’s a really good player. …God, if I thought (Jamari) Wheeler was gonna hit four 3s in the first half, I’d have bet my life on it. That’s no insult to him, it’s just what he did. And we weren’t even doubling then. So, a desperate team played desperate and very well.”

Wheeler was one of four Ohio State players to finish the game in double figures as he scored 16 points. The senior guard hit all four of his 3-pointers in the first half and went 4-for-8 from beyond the arc for the entire game.

The Buckeyes wasted no time jumping out on Michigan State, beginning the game on a 13-0 run. The Spartans rallied back to get within as close as four points, but ultimately trailed the entire game. Although Tom Izzo was mostly critical of the Ohio State crowd following the game, he did give them credit for motivating their senior center Joey Brunk, who finished the game with 18 points and six rebounds.

“Where I do give the fans a lot of credit is I think they lifted Joey Brunk,” Izzo said. “When he sat down they cheered. When he stood up they cheered. When he got the ball they went ape. So that was pretty cool.”

Thursday night’s loss marked the seventh for Michigan State in its past nine games. The Spartans dropped to 19-11 on the season with just one game remaining before the Big Ten Tournament is set to begin March 9 in Indianapolis. Meanwhile, Ohio State improved to 19-9 and was listed as a five seed in On3’s most recent bracketology projections.

The Buckeyes close out their regular season at home against Michigan at 12:30 p.m. EST Saturday.

On3’s Chandler Vessels also contributed to this story.