Zed Key leaves Iowa game in second half after re-aggravating shoulder sprain

Ohio State center Zed Key re-aggravated his left shoulder sprain twice in the second half of a 92-75 loss at Iowa Thursday night, eventually leaving the game with 15:46 to go. He didn’t return.

Key’s injury, which has flared up at times throughout Ohio State’s last 11 games, first caused a scare about three minutes into the second half. The 6-foot-8, 255-pound Buckeyes big man, who didn’t score in the first half, tried to contest an Ahron Ulis jump shot. Key extended with his left arm and shoulder to disrupt the field goal attempt. He also collided into Ulis while committing a foul.

Immediately, Key held his shoulder and bent over in pain.

Even so, Key remained in the game and, actually, scored just 69 seconds later. But he could only fight through the injury so long, especially after he re-aggravated it again with just under 16 minutes left.

Key was getting set to defend Iowa center Filip Rebraca in the post when Rebraca spun and initiated contact with Key’s injured left side. That was it. Key, clearly in discomfort, removed himself from the play and keeled over. Once he got up, he went to the locker room.

After being evaluated there, he spent the rest of the game on the bench. He finished with four points, three fouls, one rebound and one assist in 13 minutes of action for the Buckeyes.

Key’s initial injury occurred on Jan. 5 against Purdue, although he also appeared to hurt his left shoulder in November at Duke while stretching back too far for an offensive rebound. At the time, he said it was “nothing too serious.” He didn’t miss a game until he officially went down with a shoulder sprain against Purdue after jostling with Boilermakers 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey for a defensive board.

Key was sidelined that weekend at Maryland but has been back in the rotation since. While Key came off the bench against Minnesota and Rutgers, he’s started the last nine games.

“It hurts, but I can’t let that stop me,” Key said of the injury Tuesday.

Key rated the pain a “6 maybe” on a scale of 1-10 Tuesday and explained that the sprain affects his range of motion. That comes into play in the post, where he uses his shoulder for not only positioning but also scoring, particularly on turnaround hook shots. Key noted that the injury restricts his rebounding, too. So does the protective brace he has to wear, which he said is so tight it makes it harder to breathe.

“It’s not excruciating, but it lets you know that it’s there,” Key said of his shoulder sprain Tuesday. “If you move certain ways, it’s going to let you know.”

Key came into Iowa City having averaged 9.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game while posting a 46.7% 2-point field goal percentage since the injury. In Ohio State’s first 13 games this season, a healthy Key was averaging 13.4 points and 8.4 rebounds while converting 70.6% of his 2-point attempts. Also, six of Key’s seven made 3-pointers this season came in that early-season span.

Before Thursday night’s development, Buckeyes head coach Chris Holtmann said on his Monday 97.1 The Fan radio show that Ohio State’s medical team would determine after the season if Key needed surgery.

Holtmann was then asked in his subsequent media availability Monday if there have been any conversations about shutting Key down for the season.

“We feel like we can manage it through the season right now,” Holtmann said at the time. “The brace really does protect it unless there’s something more significant. Even if there was something more significant, I don’t know that it would require immediate surgery. But it could mean that he has to miss another game.”

Roddy Gayle Jr., Sean McNeil also dinged up against the Hawkeyes

Before Key’s unfortunate injury sequence Thursday night, Ohio State freshman guard Roddy Gayle Jr. rolled his ankle and was sidelined for more than six minutes. Gayle did return and scored all six of his points in the final six minutes of play. He was making his third career start, as the Buckeyes gave three freshmen the nod for the fourth time this season.

Sean McNeil was arguably the lone bright spot for the Buckeyes in their 17-point defeat. He scored 20 points off the bench on 7-of-7 shooting. The West Virginia grad transfer accounted for four of Ohio State’s seven 3-pointers.

He also scored at the rim. His 20 points were his second most in a game this season. McNeil piled up a season-high 22 points in a November Maui Invitational loss to San Diego State.

But McNeil didn’t play the final 3:07 of the second half against the Hawkeyes. He came up limping after taking a hard, blindsided hit in the paint from a cutting Tony Perkins.

McNeil seemed to signal that he was OK after it happened, but he was subbed off anyway.