Ohio State Freshman Guard Meechie Johnson Unavailable Tonight Against Minnesota

Johnson will miss his second game in a row after suffering an ankle injury in last week's loss at Rutgers

Ohio State will once again be without freshman guard Meechie Johnson for tonight’s game against Minnesota as he continues to deal with a left ankle injury suffered in last week’s 66-64 loss at Rutgers.

This marks the second game in a row that the 6-foot-2 and 172-pound Johnson will be sidelined, as he also missed Saturday’s win at 68-57 win at Michigan. The Buckeyes haven’t given a timetable on his return, but officially list him as day-to-day.

“Sorry to not give you a real specific answer here,” assistant coach Ryan Pedon said during his media availability on Monday afternoon. “You saw the ankle injury on television. Meechie’s a tough kid. I know he wants to play really bad. (He’s) an important piece to our team, as well. Our training staff is working with him and hoping for the best real soon.”

Johnson scored three points, pulled down five rebounds and dished out three assists in Ohio State’s 75-64 win at Minnesota back on Jan. 27. It was his first game back after a three-game absence due to a facial injury he suffered in practice that has forced him to wear a mask on the court in the weeks since.

Johnson is averaging 6.0 point, 1.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 17 games this season. Sophomore guard Eugene Brown III will likely get his second-career start in his place, with tipoff against the Golden Gophers set for 8:30 p.m. on BTN.

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