Kyle Young status unknown entering NCAA Tournament

COLUMBUS — Ohio State begins its toughest and most important test of the season Friday afternoon — the NCAA Tournament.

The Buckeyes still don’t know the status of one of their starters, though.

Forward Kyle Young’s status is unknown as Ohio State enters its Round of 64 game against No. 15 seed Oral Roberts. After exiting the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals with a concussion, he sat out of the semifinals and championship game, too.

Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann announced he doesn’t have any updates on Young’s status at his press conference on Tuesday morning.

“I don’t have any updates on Kyle. We won’t have any updates on Kyle for a little bit now,” Holtmann said.

When the Buckeyes entered the conference tourney last week, they were coming off a four-game losing streak to end the regular season. But Young’s game experience and ability to be a scoring threat on the floor helped Ohio State flip the script.

In the Buckeyes quarterfinal victory over Purdue, he had 18 first-half points before exiting the game. This season Young is averaging 8.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.

Kyle Young exited the Purdue game with a concussion. (Zach Bolinger/Getty Images)

“We had his jersey hanging in the locker room,” Holtmann said following the 68-67 victory over Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals. “Our social media team did an unbelievable job, they put the jersey that got ripped last year on the screen in the hallway. It was a constant reminder of a guy who really does care about this rivalry.”

Ohio State is the No. 2 seed in the South Region. The Buckeyes will play Oral Roberts at 3 p.m. on Friday on CBS.

With a win over Oral Roberts, the Buckeyes will play the winner of No. 7 Florida or No. 10 Virginia Tech in the second round on Sunday. Baylor is the No. 1 seed in the South Region.