Ohio State starters Sean McNeil, Zed Key leave game vs Purdue with injuries

Ohio State guard Sean McNeil and forward Zed Key both left the first half of Thursday’s game against Purdue with injuries. They’re two key pieces of the starting lineup for the Buckeyes.

Key suffered a shoulder injury as he went to block a shot early in the game while McNeil landed on a Purdue player’s foot as he shot a three-point attempt shortly thereafter. Both players went to the locker room as a result, and Key was later ruled out for the rest of the game. McNeil returned with 5:18 left in the first half.

Key was one of the top returning players this year for Ohio State and is building off a strong 2021-22 season, averaging 13.4 points and 8.4 rebounds per game entering play Thursday. McNeil, meanwhile, ranks fourth on the Buckeyes roster with 9.9 points per contest in his first year with Ohio State after transferring from West Virginia.

Purdue — the No. 1 team in the nation this week — is trying to bounce back after a loss to Rutgers at Mackey Arena on Monday. It was the Boilermakers’ first loss of the year and marks the second consecutive season the Scarlet Knights defeated a No. 1-ranked Purdue team.

As for the Buckeyes, they’re looking for their third victory in Big Ten play and are trying to build off last week’s dominant victory over Northwestern. After that game, Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said the defense did well in that game, but it’s all about improving as Big Ten play heats up.

“We’ve been really good offensively for a couple of years,” Holtmann said. “But our defense has to continue to come for us, to continue to get better and better. Our guys, we’ve got good offensive players. We’ve just got to keep buying into the idea of being really hard to score on and we were that tonight.”