EJ Liddell is giving everything he has to his team right now. Head coach Chris Holtmann revealed that Ohio State’s star had the flu earlier this week, which resulted in a trip to the hospital.

Liddell dropped in 21 points and grabbed 6 rebounds in Thursday night’s 86-83 victory over Illinois in Champaign. More impressively, the star forward played in 35 minutes despite battling illness throughout the week.

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After the game, Holtmann told reporters that Liddell spent some time in the hospital because of a bout with constant fatigue.

“My man needed fluids the night after the IU game,” Holtmann said, per Eleven Warriors. “He was in the hospital for a little bit just because of – it turned out it was just the flu – but he had a lot of fatigue.”

Liddell’s performance on Thursday night helped push Ohio State back in the running for a B1G regular season title, just 1.5 games back with four to play. The Buckeyes have Maryland, Nebraska, Michigan State and No. 25 Iowa remaining on the schedule.

Liddell played 43 of a possible 45 minutes on Monday night against Indiana, scoring 16 points, grabbing 7 boards and dishing out 2 assists in an 80-69 victory. But Holtmann said something was off after the game with his star — more than just usual fatigue after a hard-fought contest.

The good news is that Liddell seems to have recovered and is proving to be as effective as ever on the floor. During the final stretch of the season, it’s going to take quite a bit to keep the B1G Player of the Year candidate out of a game.