Ohio State Suspends Duane Washington, Luther Muhammad

Sophomore guards will not play Tuesday night against Nebraska

An Ohio State basketball season which held much promise now has more adversity to overcome than the four-game losing streak it takes into a 6:30 p.m. Tuesday game against visiting Nebraska.

Ninety-minutes before tip-off, OSU announced via Twitter that head coach Chris Holtmann has suspended sophomore guards Duane Washington Jr. and Luther Muhammad from the Big Ten game against the Cornhuskers.

Washington is Ohio State's third-leading scorer at 10.3 per-game and Muhammad is a two-year starter who contributes 5.2 per-game.

OSU defeated Villanova, North Carolina and Kentucky in an 11-1 start that earned the nation's No. 2 ranking, but it has since fallen to No. 21 amid its four-game losing streak and is 1-4 in the Big Ten.

Chris Holtmann, head coach of the Ohio State men’s basketball team, has suspended sophomore guards Luther Muhammad and Duane Washington Jr. tonight vs. Nebraska for a failure to meet program standards and expectations.

— Dan Wallenberg (@OSUADAthComm) January 14, 2020

Washington started and played only four minutes in each half in a Saturday loss at Indiana, an effort Holtmann said Monday was insufficient.

"I just did not feel he was ready to play,” Holtmann said. “I felt like he was not prepared to play in a tough environment on the road. I just did not feel like his mind was where it needed to be, and it was pretty evident even in the short minutes that he played.”

Muhammad has made 2-of-18 three-point attempts during OSU's recent losses to West Virginia, Wisconsin, Maryland and Indiana.

Ohio State did not specify the length of Washington's and Muhammad's suspensions.

The Buckeyes play at noon Saturday at Penn State.

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