No. 19 Ohio State has two games remaining in its 2019-20 season, Thursday night at home against No. 23 Illinois and Sunday on the road against No. 16 Michigan State. For both of those games, the Buckeyes could once again be without two of the five scholarship forwards on the roster.

During his Wednesday media availability ahead of both contests, Scarlet and Gray head coach Chris Holtmann said that junior Kyle Young remains day-to-day with a high ankle sprain and freshman Alonzo Gaffney is out.

Young suffered the ankle injury in the 79-72 win against Maryland on Feb. 23. Since then, he has been listed as day-to-day by Holtmann but missed both Ohio State wins against Nebraska and Michigan over the past week.

While the Buckeyes would love to have Young back for the final two games of the regular season, Holtmann understands the importance of having Young 100 percent healthy for the upcoming Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments. Young, who averages 5.8 rebounds per game, would certainly help the Scarlet and Gray against the conference’s two best rebounding teams over the next few days, but Ohio State will think big picture with the junior.

“He is anxious to get back, and we're anxious to get him back,” Holtmann said of Young. “But it was a significant sprain. And I think all that know our team, and in particular in a game like we have, the two this week, he adds a lot of value with what he brings. But you're also mindful of what's in the best interest of him and what's in the best interest of our team long term as well.”

Sitting at seventh in the Big Ten, the Buckeyes could climb as high as the fourth seed for the conference tournament but would need some help. The Scarlet and Gray will have to weigh the risk of putting Young back on the court in either of these next two games and attempting a push over having him ready for when it’s win or go home.

Gaffney’s situation is even less clear than Young’s. The freshman was named by Holtmann as a player who could help in Young’s absence heading into the trip to Nebraska but was then out due to an illness. He also missed the game against the Wolverines due to the illness, one that Holtmann said he wasn’t worried about spreading around the team.

On Wednesday, Holtmann did not cite the illness for Gaffney’s absence and couldn’t provide any more details for the player who, unlike Young, has not been on the bench for either of the last two wins.

“Zo will be out,” Holtmann said of Gaffney. “I can't really speak more to that, but he'll be out for tomorrow.

“I'm not even really allowed to get into specifics on that.”

Holtmann did clarify that Gaffney is still a member of the team but did not elaborate beyond that. Gaffney averaged 1.8 points and 1.4 rebounds in 17 games this year while playing 6.7 minutes per contest.

Without these two once again, Ohio State will have a short rotation, which on Sunday saw all five starters play at least 33 minutes and only freshman EJ Liddell (17 minutes) and sophomore Justin Ahrens (eight minutes) come off the bench. Liddell, in particular, will be important for the Buckeyes in these next two contests.

“I’m obviously really excited about the production we've gotten from EJ and from the guys,” Holtmann said. “We've obviously played the shortest rotation I've ever played in my coaching career. But I think the reality is he adds a lot when it comes to those, certainly teams like this that challenge us on the glass as much as these two do.”

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A shorthanded Ohio State tips off against Illinois at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday night on ESPN with senior night festivities on the schedule for the final home game of the year.