Ohio State Suspends Two Key Guards as Season Spins Out of Control
Ohio State head basketball coach Chris Holtmann has announced sophomores Luther Muhammad and Duane Washington Jr. have been suspended. The two guards are out for Tuesday night's matchup with Nebraska. This is the latest sign that Ohio State's once-promising season is rapidly spinning out of control.
Chris Holtmann, head coach of the Ohio State men’s basketball team, has suspended sophomore guards Luther Muhammad and Duane Washington Jr. tonight vs. Nebraska for a failure to meet program standards and expectations.
— Dan Wallenberg (@OSUADAthComm) January 14, 2020
The Buckeyes opened this season by winning their first nine games and 11 of their first 12. That 11-1 mark got them ranked as high as No. 2 in both polls. Since that time Ohio State has lost four games in a row, including a home loss to Wisconsin and a really bad showing against Indiana on Saturday. Now two key guards are suspended.
Washington is the team's second-leading scorer. He's averaging 10.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 22.4 minutes per game, while hitting 43.9 percent of his 3-point shots. Muhammad is another solid contributor, scoring 6.5 points in 24.0 minutes per game.
On Tuesday, Holtmann claimed Washington's effort and attention to detail were "poor" during the loss to Indiana:
Before this suspension, Washington only played 8 minutes in Ohio State's 66-54 loss to Indiana on Saturday. The team's leading 3-point shooter averages 22 minutes a game. Here's Chris Holtmann yesterday saying Duane's effort and attention to detail were "poor" in that game: pic.twitter.com/QKjFHYhuBS
— Justin Holbrock (@NBC4Justin) January 14, 2020
Obviously there's a ton of time for the 11-5 Buckeyes to turn things around. But they've already racked up four conference losses, and sitting at 1-4 in this year's Big Ten is an awful spot to be in. They need both Washington and Muhammad contributing to straighten this season out.