COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State guard Kam Williams has been suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules, and missed Sunday's win over Illinois. Here are some thoughts on the suspension and what it means for the Buckeyes moving forward.

* Here's the thing about indefinite suspensions, they're indefinite. So there's no target date for Williams' return.

Buckeyes coach Chris Holtmann after Sunday's win didn't completely close the door on Williams being available for Wednesday's game at No. 3 Purdue, but he also didn't sound like a coach who's optimistic that the Buckeyes will be at full strength when that game comes around.

"We've not made that decision yet," Holtmann said. "That will be something we look at in the next day or two. Right now the plan is to go there with him, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's gonna play. It's kind of a day-to-day decision ... We expect him back at some point ... At this point he needs to do some things and we need to have more conversations. Until I feel comfortable with that, I don't expect him to play."

* If you want to read between the lines a little bit, when freshman center Kaleb Wesson was suspended in November for "a failure to meet the expectations of the men's basketball program", the team let it be known then that he'd only miss one game.

If Ohio State knew at this point that Williams would only be suspended for one game, it's likely the announcement would have included that piece of information.

* From what I can gather from talking to people around the program, don't be surprised if Williams ends up missing multiple games. One source told cleveland.com it could be three to five games (including the Illinois game), but no official word has been given on the timetable.

Also expect him to be back at some point before the end of the regular season. This doesn't end his season. Ohio State (20-5, 11-1 Big Ten) has six games remaining before the Big Ten Tournament begins on Feb. 28.

* Williams is Ohio State's fifth-leading scorer at 8 points per game, and leads the Big Ten in 3-point shooting during conference play. His absence was felt during the win over Illinois as the Buckeyes appeared to struggle some with spacing and ball movement.

He isn't exactly a ball mover, and wouldn't have helped improve ball-handling at all in a game when the Buckeyes turned it over 15 times. That's not Williams' strong suit. But his shooting threat does open things up for everyone else.

"He's so efficient with time and space from about 15 feet to behind the 3-point line," Holtmann said. "So it eliminates a guy who, you really have to know where he's at. The way (Illinois) plays, they give you some open shots and do such a good job of scrambling out, but I think maybe he could've gotten us six or eight points off a one more (pass) opportunity. I think that's what we would've missed."

That could've been the difference in Ohio State avoiding the 30-15 hole it found itself in in the first half, or the fact that the Buckeyes were sweating out a possible upset with about five minutes left before pulling away late.

* With Williams out, Holtmann really only used an eight-man rotation. Freshman Kyle Young played just one minute.

* It sounded like Holtmann didn't give much thought to starting freshman guard Musa Jallow against Illinois. The way he answered the question about why he chose Andre Wesson to fill Williams' spot in the starting lineup made it sound like it was either going to be Wesson or Andrew Dakich starting.

It makes sense then that Wesson was the pick over Ohio State's No. 2 point guard. Technically Jae'Sean Tate was the starting point guard with C.J. Jackson in Williams' off guard spot and Wesson at small forward.

"I don't know that we're set that it's always going to be Andre," Holtmann said. "We felt like we wanted another ball handler to come off the bench, and that's what we wanted to bring Dakich off the bench because we knew it would be hard for C.J. and Andrew to be the only ball-handlers."

* William's absence, however long it lasts, will put a spotlight on Wesson and Jallow. Wesson is more experienced and has a more consistent offensive game, so don't be surprised if he's the player sticking in the starting lineup moving forward.

Though neither Wesson nor Jallow come close to providing what Williams does from a scoring standpoint, they do allow Ohio State to be a little more versatile defensively.

"Dre can shoot, obviously not as well as Kam, but Dre is a bigger body and we can switch a lot more with Dre out there," junior forward Keita Bates-Diop said. "It was a little weird in the beginning, but we figured it out as the game went on."

Switching on everything helped the Buckeyes start to lock down on defense against Illinois both late, and in the first half when they got out of that early hole.

Wesson played 26 minutes, two shy of the career-high 28 he logged against Rutgers a few games ago. He had two points, one rebound and three turnovers. Jallow remains effective on the defensive end, and helped ignite that first-half run that erased a 15-point deficit by forcing a jump ball on a pass into the post. He had one rebound and one turnover in 13 minutes.

"I think Musa gave us really good minutes today," Holtmann said. "I think he gave us a good defensive approach, he was aggressive and active. His minutes are probably gonna increase during this stretch. We want him to be him, be ready to make open shots, give us a great defensive presence."

* There is a locker room dynamic to the Williams suspension stemming from a fifth-year player -- the longest-tenured player on the roster -- getting himself suspended at a crucial juncture.

I don't expect it to create any kind of rift within the team, and Williams (by multiple accounts) had been stepping up his leadership until this recent misstep. But that doesn't erase some sentiment of disappointment with Ohio State still very much in contention for a Big Ten regular season title.

"I think everyone was disappointed, Kam included, because this is special what this group is doing right now," Holtmann said. "I don't want that to ever be taken for granted. To have a little hiccup with a guy who's been really a big part of it, I think it is frustrating and disappointing. I think he's frustrated and disappointed, but we'll see how he responds."