Ohio State star E.J. Liddell 'questionable' for big game at Illinois

COLUMBUS — Ohio State has a huge game at Illinois on Thursday night and may be without its biggest star.

Per a release from the Buckeyes on Thursday afternoon, E.J. Liddell is listed as questionable for the Top 25 battle with the Illini. Liddell, one of the top contenders for the Big Ten Player of the Year award, has been fighting off flu-like symptoms for the last few days. That issue was something that Chris Holtmann hinted at during his Wednesday press conference.

“We had some guys who were fatigued (against Indiana),” Holtmann said. “I’m not going to get into great detail but we had a pretty important guy who was sick, under the weather.”

If Liddell can not go against Illinois, the Buckeyes will be forced to contend with Illini center Kofi Cockburn with a combination of defenders, including Joey Brunk, Kyle Young and others. It’s a challenge to defend Cockburn with Liddell on the floor and even greater without him.

“The competition is still going to be there,” Eugene Brown said Wednesday. “[Illinois center] Kofi [Cockburn], he’s a beast.”

Slowing down Cockburn, averaging more than 21 points per game and 11 rebounds per contest, is one big piece of the puzzle for Ohio State as it has struggled to defend the offensive glass over the last few games. Losing Liddell on the other side of the ball is certainly another bigger issue for the Buckeyes. The 6-foot-7 junior from Belleville (Ill.) is leading Ohio State in scoring, rebounds and is second on the roster in assists per game. His potential absence is another pothole on the Buckeyes road this year. Throughout a number of challenges due to Covid, other illness and injury, Holtmann is trying to just keep things under control.

“I’m a big believer that the results will take care of themselves if we take care of the right stuff,” Holtmann said. “At the end of the day, there’s not a lot of those conversations. It’s not like we’re hanging up league standings. Our guys are aware of them. Throughout the year, we’ve made them aware of them.

“But the reality is you’re just trying to focus on the important things you think matter to your team right now, the nuts and bolts. The rest of that stuff will take are of itself. There’s still a lot of games to be played from a lot of teams.”

Ohio State is currently sitting in the league’s No. 4 spot ahead of Thursday’s game with Illinois and is one game behind the Illini in the league-wide standings.