The Ohio State men’s basketball team (11-5, 3-3) suffered two losses Sunday night. The Buckeyes’ 81-74 defeat at the hands of the Washington Huskies (10-6, 2-3) was the first, and somehow less crushing,
loss of the evening. The more impactful, and potentially long-term loss Ohio State suffered on Sunday was an injury to starting center Christoph Tilly, who left the game early in the second half with an “undisclosed injury.”
So far this season – his fourth collegiate season but his first at Ohio State – Tilly is averaging 12.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game while playing a career-high 26.4 minutes per game. He ranks fourth on the team in points per game, second in rebounds, and second in assists.
With Ohio State leading 30-28 with 4:44 remaining in the first half, Tilly was blindsided by a brutal screen from Washington’s Franck Kepnang. The Huskies’ 6-foot-11, 255-pound center was whistled for an illegal screen, as his feet were not set when he contacted Tilly. Additionally, it appeared that Kepnang raised his right arm and –
intentional or not – elbowed Tilly in the ribs while setting the screen.
As the whistle blew and a foul was called on Kepnang, Tilly stumbled away from the play towards the Ohio State bench and lay on the ground. Tilly subbed out of the game, but was able to return and play the first few minutes of the second half before subbing out of the game for good at the 15:47 mark of the second half. The Buckeyes were outscored 31-29 the rest of the way, and lost to split their two-game west coast road trip after beating Oregon on Thursday night.
According to Adam Jardy of The Columbus Dispatch, Tilly left the arena under his own power to be evaluated. After the game, Ohio State head coach Jake Diebler had no additional update on Tilly’s injury or his availability moving forward.
This all comes less than a week after 6-foot-8, 240-pound forward Brandon Noel suffered a serious foot injury during Ohio State’s loss to Nebraska that will keep the senior out for “an extended period of time,” according to Diebler. Noel was averaging 7.4 points per game this season, but was scoring at a 12 points per game clip in Big Ten play before getting hurt. He had a 29-point outburst at Northwestern on December 6 that powered the Buckeyes to their first conference win of the season.
Aside from bringing a scoring punch off the bench, at 6-foot-8, Noel was one of the main low-post options for Ohio State when Tilly was not on the floor. Moving forward, the Buckeyes could be down to just one traditional post player –Ivan Njegovan.
Njegovan, a 7-foot-2 sophomore from Croatia, is averaging 2.9 points, three rebounds, and just under two fouls per game in 10.6 minutes per contest. Prior to being called into duty on Sunday night, Njegovan had been a healthy, unused substitute in two of Ohio State’s last four games.
Diebler will almost certainly be asked Tuesday afternoon during his weekly radio show what Tilly’s injury is and what the prognosis is as far as a return-to-play date. In order to keep future opponents in the dark, Diebler likely won’t say much more than the obvious – it’s an upper body injury, and his status for Saturday’s game against UCLA is still to be determined.
However, we all saw the play, and if you didn’t, you can scroll up to see the video of Tilly taking an elbow straight to the ribs – what I lack in a medical degree I make up for with two working eyes.
If it is in fact a rib injury, Tilly could be looking at an absence of several days to potentially several weeks, depending on if there’s a fracture or not. Since I am not a doctor, I reached out to one that I know, who preferred not to be named in this article. I asked them, in general, since they did not diagnose Tilly’s injury, what is the general timeline to recover from a bruised rib vs. a broken rib? Are you able to play through these types of injuries?
According to this medical professional (whom I have known for over a decade), a fractured rib can take anywhere from 6-12 weeks to heal, depending on the location and severity of the injury. A bruised rib, or “bone contusion,” while still extremely painful, should heal much faster, potentially as quickly as 3-4 weeks, and an athlete’s availability to play through a bone contusion would largely depend on pain management as the injury heals. However, they would generally discourage a patient from participating in contact sports if they did sustain a
fracture, and allow it to heal.
With that in mind, how does Ohio State move forward with a skeleton crew left at center?
Ohio State does not have a like-for-like replacement for Tilly, which makes him the most important player on the team not named Bruce Thornton. If he has to miss any amount of time, Njegovan will likely slide into his place and start at center.
Diebler said that Njegovan did some “good things” after the Washington game, but admitted that he did look worn down in the later stages of the game. Njegovan’s 24 minutes on Sunday night were a career-high, and he does not look ready to take on Tilly’s full workload of 25-30 minutes per game yet.
Njegovan also lacks the playmaking and ball-handling abilities Tilly possesses that have opened up the Ohio State offense this season, as well as his defensive versatility. While Tilly is not an elite defender at center, he has been able to switch and guard multiple positions this season, which has earned him more minutes and helps him fit into many different lineup configurations. Njegovan is much more of a rigid, traditional center at 7-foot-2 and 260
pounds. Opponents have often tried to make switches on offense to get faster players matched up with Njegovan, knowing they will likely get past him and either score or draw a foul.
There were also moments on Sunday night when Njegovan, who finished with four points, six rebounds, two assists, and two turnovers, still looked overwhelmed by the speed of Big Ten basketball.
Despite being the tallest one on the floor, Njegovan pulled down multiple rebounds and then lowered the ball to a waist-high level while he looked for a teammate, which allowed Washington to grab hold of the ball and force a jump ball on both occasions. He also failed to box out Kepnang on a missed shot with one minute remaining in the game, with Ohio State down six points, allowing the Huskies’ center to come down with a game-sealing rebound. Njegovan then compounded it with a foul on Kepnang’s putback attempt.
Diebler will also have to rely on freshman A’mare Bynum, who has averaged 32.6 minutes per game over the past five games and has become a mainstay in most lineup configurations, to slide over and play a “small ball” center. Bynum traditionally has played power forward, but told the Columbus Dispatch that he will “get used to it.”
“I usually don’t play the five, and I had to play the five and guard bigger players (tonight). It was hard for me out there, but if Tilly’s still out, I’ll get used to it, being more physical in the box.”
Bynum brings the necessary energy and physicality to the center position, but at 6-foot-8, he will be giving several inches to many Big Ten centers. He’ll need to continue staying out of foul trouble, an area he has excelled at lately – the freshman has only averaged 2.8 fouls per game in six games since being inserted into the starting lineup on December 20.
Ohio State could also go uber-small with Devin Royal at center if Diebler recognizes an opponent going small, and just sub diligently if opponents adjust. If Njegovan gets into foul trouble or (God forbid) gets hurt, the Buckeyes will be running on fumes beneath the basket.
Depending on the length of Tilly’s absence, the coming weeks could be the biggest coaching challenge of Diebler’s life. His Buckeyes are 3-3 in the Big Ten, with three of their next four games at home. Playing .500 basketball the rest of the way would all but guarantee an NCAA Tournament spot – but even that could prove difficult with their
current injury situation.
