The last few weeks certainly haven’t been kind to Ohio State on the hardwood.

Ohio State lost 3 of its final 4 games of the regular season and was knocked out of the B1G Tournament by Penn State in its first game last Thursday. It hasn’t been a great showing from a team that spent much of the 2021-22 season ranked in the Associated Press Top 25.

Injuries have played a big role in the recent struggles. Kyle Young, Zed Key and Meechie Johnson Jr. have all missed playing time down the stretch, putting the Buckeyes in a bind in the most important month of the year. The fall resulted in OSU earning a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament, playing No. 10 seed Loyola-Chicago — a darling of the past few years.

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Planning for the opponent is important this time of year, but more than anything, Chris Holtmann says his team needs to get healthy before Friday’s matchup against the Ramblers.

While speaking on 97.1 The Fan in Columbus, Holtmann said the No. 1 priority is getting healthy for Friday’s game. He says his team is fortunate to not be playing in one of the First Four games, but is uncertain if the next few days will provide enough time for his squad to be at full strength.

“(It’s) Day by day progress,” Holtmann said, per Griffin Strom of Eleven Warriors. “If we were one of those first four teams, I don’t know, I’m just not sure. Perhaps an extra day helps us.”

Ohio State enters the NCAA Tournament with a 19-11 record and having lost each of its last two games. Last year, the Buckeyes were a No. 2 seed but were eliminated in the first round by No. 15 seed Oral Roberts.

Holtmann and the Buckeyes are hoping to avoid a similar fate.