Lauderdale out for 4-6 weeks

COLUMBUS - The Ohio State Men’s basketball team will have to start out the season short-handed. Forward Dallas Lauderdale will mis the first four to six weeks of the year after sustaining a broken bone in his right hand.

The injury to his fourth metacarpal will require surgery on Wednesday at the Ohio State University Medical Center.

The 6-foot-8, 255-pound junior averaged just shy of five points a game for the Buckeyes but was more important on the inside where he provided toughness for the team in the pain after the then departure of B.J.Mullens.

The Buckeyes will have to rely heavily on Zisis Sarikopoulos, 7-foot-0 transfer, in the middle while Dallas is on the mend.

A speedy recovery could get Lauderdale back in time for the North Carolina game but if the injury recovery takes the full six weeks then it would be unlikely that Dallas would be back in time for the Coaches vs. Cancer event.

The event kicks off the Ohio State official season (after a pair of exhibition games) with the Buckeyes starting it all with Alcorn State on November 9th.