Scotty Middleton out for Iowa game with lower-body injury
COLUMBUS — Ohio State will be without freshman wing Scotty Middleton Friday night in Iowa City. Middleton is day-to-day with an injury to a lower-body extremity, a source confirmed to Lettermen Row.
Middleton is averaging 16.6 minutes, 4.3 points and 1.5 rebounds per game while shooting only 38% from the field and 46.7% from the free throw line. He has, however, connected on 37.5% of his 3-point attempts and is tied for fourth on the team with 15 made 3-pointers.
The 6-foot-7, 190-pound Sunrise Christian Academy product made an immediate impression with his defensive flexibility. He can guard multiple positions, and head coach Chris Holtmann said earlier this season that it’s because of Middleton’s attention to detail.
But Middleton has struggled of late. After emerging as a solid 3-and-D bench option for the Buckeyes, he’s regressed defensively — a team-wide issue since the start of Big Ten play — and he’s converted a mere 27.3% of his 3-point attempts over his last six games.
Middleton was suspended for Ohio State’s lone win since Jan. 3 — a home victory over Penn State on Jan. 20 — after he violated team rules.
“I think it’s a challenge,” Holtmann said the following week on his 97.1 The Fan radio show. “I think you got to first remember that they’re 18, 19, 20 years old. Sometimes we forget that as coaches. We just look at it like they should be whatever. In reality, they’re 18, 19, 20. Their brains are still forming, they’re still trying to process and figure things out. They come from all different backgrounds.
“Scotty’s a really good kid. He’s got a great heart. We care about him.”
Holtmann described the situation as a “simple internal matter,” and Middleton returned to practice the next day.
Middelton has played the most of the four Ohio State freshmen this season, although forward Devin Royal has emerged as a more reliable scoring threat of late.
Royal has scored seven or more points in three of the last five games, despite not playing more than seven minutes in each of those games.
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