Ohio State’s Meechie Johnson takes leave of absence; Aaron Bradshaw still out ahead of Kentucky matchup

The Kentucky Wildcats are off to a great start as they sit at 10-1 with only a few non-conference games left on the schedule. One of those matchups is against the Ohio State Buckeyes this coming Saturday in Madison Square Garden.

With the CBS Sports Classic gearing up for tip-off, it sounds like the Buckeyes could be extremely shorthanded in their matchup against the Cats on Saturday.

According to a team spokesman, fifth-year guard Meechie Johnson has taken a leave of absence from the program. There is no timetable for his return.

Johnson is a key part of the Ohio State rotation. He averages just over nine points per game but also averages the second-most minutes for this Buckeyes team. He’s also given Kentucky plenty of trouble, scoring 14 points in last year’s win over the Cats. He also went for 26 in the win over Kentucky at Rupp Arena in the 2022-23 season.

The team could also be without a familiar face to the BBN, as Aaron Bradshaw remains out for the Buckeyes. After missing five games in November, Bradshaw returned to the team activities just over a week ago. As he tried to ramp back up to game shape, you would think he would like to try and give it a go this weekend in NYC against his former squad, but for now, he remains out.

The Buckeyes were able to make easy work of Valparaiso on Tuesday, winning 95-73 behind 31 points (11/16 shooting) from sophomore forward Devin Royal.

There will be a couple of storylines to follow closely as we approach Saturday night.

Let’s see if the Head Coach can settle this.

The talk of the BBN this week has surrounded the environment at Rupp Arena. Should you stand or should you sit when cheering?

It has long been a debate among the Kentucky Wildcats fanbase as many strive to have Rupp Arena named in the conversation as one of the best college basketball environments in the country.

Even though it is high on that list, I think we all can agree there are times that place could have a lot more juice than it does, but that’s hard to do when standing leads to threats of arrest from police officers.

Man, I just hope everybody comes into that arena and has an incredible experience. I can’t tell you how important it is to us,” he said.

Maybe it is not the answer the BBN sought, but it’s true. This team means a lot to this state, and with a gauntlet of an SEC schedule on deck, the Cats will need this fanbase to help will them to hard-fought wins in the coming weeks and months.

Let’s hope this debate helps push Rupp Arena over the edge to be one of the loudest arenas in the sport.