E.J. Liddell Still Day-to-Day for Ohio State Basketball

Liddell is dealing with an undisclosed, non-CoVID illness and may miss the team's Big Ten opener against Purdue.

The Buckeyes overcame their least effective shooting game of the season against Cleveland State on Sunday without perhaps their best player on the floor, but the level of competition is going to significantly increase here with the start of Big Ten play on Wednesday evening.

E.J. Liddell is dealing with an undisclosed illness, which has been confirmed to not be CoVID-19, that will have him off the floor for an indefinite period of time.

“When you have an illness like that and there’s no telling necessarily how long he’s had it, I think that’s what we’re still trying to figure out,” head coach Chris Holtmann said after Sunday's game. “It could have been in his system for a couple of weeks.

“I think the hard thing is telling a young man who was playing so well that he’s going to miss at least one game and maybe a few games or more,” Holtmann continued. “It’s disappointing for our team but E.J. was so excited about continuing to play and continuing to grow as a player. He’s done such an incredible job. I talked to his mom and dad and brought him in the office. He was disappointed but it’s the right call shutting him down for a little while.”

The Buckeye head coach went on to say that Liddell is still considered day-to-day until he can get healthy and come back. Liddell was physically on the bench during the Cleveland State game dressed in Ohio State street clothes.

The timing of his absence is especially frustrating for the Buckeyes because he played so well against Notre Dame last week Tuesday. Liddell had a career-best performance with 19 points and 12 rebounds in a comeback win over the Irish. In his absence against Cleveland State, Ohio State freshman forward Zed Key notched his first career double-double.

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