Zed Key Posts First Career Double-Double as Buckeyes Slip Past Cleveland State

Ohio State freshman forward Zed Key scored a career-high 12 points and gathered career-high 10 rebounds as the Buckeyes outlasted Cleveland State on Sunday.

Chris Holtmann has said it on a number of occasions - his team is very much a work in progress.

He's grateful that they've been able to play five games already this year, but he knows that in order for Ohio State to blossom and contend in the Big Ten the way he'd like to see them, they need reps.

Perhaps nobody needs those live reps more so than freshman forward Zed Key. Good news for Key - although it is also bad news for the Buckeyes - he's going to get a lot of them.

Key is going to see increased minutes with burgeoning Ohio State star E.J. Liddell out for an indefinite period of time with an undisclosed illness (confirmed, not CoVID). Key has a boatload of potential and his development would be great for OSU as they get ready for a physical conference to begin playing.

Facing a huge task of guarding a 7-foot-2 post player for the Cleveland State Vikings, Zed Key had his most productive game as a college player. He posted his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Ohio State vs. Cleveland State Game Recap

"I just wanted to come in and play hard," Key said after the game. "That's what the coaches expect from all of us, so just embrace it, come into the game and play your butt off. Make effort plays, get rebounds and the offensive side will come, so that's what we all did."

Key also played a career-high 21 minutes, which was not surprising considering the circumstances with Liddell. But after he only saw the floor for a few minutes on Tuesday in South Bend, getting him some meaningful playing time against the Vikings was important to Holtmann.

"I thought he was great," Holtmann said. "I thought Zed was great. Protected the rim, impacted shots. I thought that was his biggest impact. And then he also just brought a physicality to tonight. I thought he was tremendous."

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