Ohio State coach Thad Matta and his team seem determined to press on without All-American candidate Evan Turner, who could miss as much as eight weeks after suffering a back injury in last Saturday’s rout of Eastern Michigan.

“We’ve had a good week,” Matta said. “In regards to Evan, it is still too early to tell anything we know. We absolutely know nothing. We had another doctor look at the (tests) and they were right on with their assessment. It’s just a matter of time.”

The 6-7 Turner moved to the point guard position this season and the move had served him well. He came into that game against EMU averaging 20.6 points, 12.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists.

But he was injured when he fell while attempting a breakaway dunk. Matta said Turner’s hands appeared to slip off the rim on the dunk and he fell hard on his back. He left the game and went to OSU Medical Center for examination.

An original set of X-rays did not determine any structural damage. But Matta said a subsequent CT scan revealed a pair of transverse process fractures on the second and third lumbar vertebra of his spine.

Turner attended practice on Wednesday. He is able to walk under his own power and has been undergoing water therapy in a specially designed pool at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, Matta said.

“Yesterday was the first time I have seen him smile, which was a good thing,” Matta said. “Evan is a to-the-point guy. He’s the kind of guy who says, ‘I’m going to make 100 free throws before I leave the gym.’ There’s a goal, there’s a deadline. The hardest part for him is the unknown of when he gets to come back.”

Matta said the eight-week prognosis for Turner’s return is a bit nebulous.

“It’s not even an X-ray. It’s hard to explain, but it is about where the muscles connect to the vertebrae,” he said. “There’s a process of where those have to get back and heal. You don’t know when it will be back. They will do X-rays to see the healing, but they are more concerned about the muscles and the pulling on the vertebrae.”

Matta said medical personnel believe that, through proper rest and rehab, Turner can make a full recovery with no lingering effects.

“They think it will be a full recovery with no chronic problems whatsoever,” he said.

Ohio State, up two notches to 13^th in this week’s Associated Press poll, stands at 7-1 on the season heading into Saturday’s game at No. 23 Butler (6-3). With Turner, OSU was expected to contend with Purdue and Michigan State for the Big Ten championship. Matta said he hasn’t allowed his mind to thing about lesser expectations with Turner out of the lineup.

“I haven’t gone that far with all of the uncertainty,” Matta said. “It’s been more of really trying to focus in on what we’re trying to accomplish. The team was rolling. There were a lot of positives with that. I want to see over the next couple of weeks how we play and how we do.”

Turner is considered a strong NBA draft candidate if he comes out at the end of the year. Accordingly, there is a school of thought that Turner may never return to the Buckeyes. Matta was asked about that scenario.

“I know nothing along those lines,” the coach said. “I know what Evan’s target date is and he swears he will be back playing. Being with him yesterday, he said, ‘I will be ready to go for this game, right here.’

“Evan is one of the most unique kids you will ever meet. He’s one of the greatest kids I have ever seen. He has a passion for this university. I can remember last year when all of the stuff was going on whether he was staying or leaving. We were driving through campus and he said, ‘Coach, I love Ohio State. I love being here.’

“I don’t know what the future is going to hold, but that young man has given this university a lot. His thing is he feels awful for these guys. He wants to be with this team.”

Matta said he sent a message to the rest of the team after the injury was diagnosed Saturday night.

“I think I talked to most of them,” the coach said. “I just sent a message to all of them. They were calling to see and a couple guys showed up at the hospital.

“The biggest thing I’ve told the guys is we’ve lost Evan and his 22 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists per game. He was probably on pace to be the college player of the year this year. I don’t need one guy to get the 22 points. We have to do it collectively.

“When you have great kids in your program … I would say they are more concerned about Evan. He is a guy that is a great teammate. You feel bad for him more than ‘This happened to our team.’ ”

When asked what the hardest thing to replace with Turner out of the lineup, Matta said, “The one thing (we’ll miss) is just his size. At 6-7, he was another body people had to contend with because of his size and his length. Defensively, he would get his hands on balls. The presence is something that will be definitely missed as well.

“When you lose a point guard and a guy who was doing so much, you have to recenter and refocus and change some things.”

One obvious change for the Buckeyes would be to insert senior P.J. Hill at point guard. But Matta said he has not settled on his new lineup just yet.

“We’re still playing with it,” Matta said. “We’ve had to change quite a bit of things we’ve been doing. We’ll have a different approach going forward.”

Junior wing Jon Diebler has been averaging 17.1 points per game. Matta was asked how Diebler’s role could change. Particularly, Diebler – a sharpshooter hitting 52.2 percent of his three-point shots – could become a target of opposing defenses.

“I don’t know if it drastically changes,” Matta said. “We have to look at some different ways to keep him involved within the context of what we’re trying to get done.”

The Players’ Take

Hill and junior wing David Lighty met with the media as well on Thursday. Lighty said he had a chance to talk with Turner after the diagnosis.

“I saw him later on that day,” Lighty said. “He was down, but who wouldn’t be?”

Lighty has walked in Turner’s shoes. It was a year ago this week when Lighty suffered a foot injury in the seventh game against Jacksonville. He was originally ticketed to return in two months, but never made it back the rest of the year and took an injury redshirt.

“Everybody’s perspective on things is different,” Lighty said. “I just told him to look for the best of things. This is God’s way of telling him to take a break. You’ve been working so hard and this is his way of saying you need to rest your body and get ready. You have something planned for you in the future that is better than this.

“I just told him, ‘Don’t worry about it. Don’t think about it too much. Don’t let it be a burden on your heart that you’re letting the team down. Just deal with it, take it in stride and look for the positive in things.’ ”

Hill was asked about being ready to take on a larger role.

“My role is going to change from coming off the bench to starting and playing a lot of minutes,” he said. “I have to be ready to, one, lead the team, and just pick up where Evan left off. I have to give my contribution along with everybody else’s contribution to make up for losing Evan. My number is going to be called and I will be put into the fire to defend and play long stretches.”

Hill came up big in Saturday’s 111-60 win over Eastern Michigan. He tallied a career-high 18 points, hitting 3 of 4 three-point shots, in 33 minutes of work.

“I am definitely going to build off that,” Hill said. “It was good for me and my teammates and everybody to see that even though Evan goes down, this gives opportunities for other players to do more and step out of their role a little bit.”

Matta Video

He discussed the injury to Turner, the prognosis, how the team will cope without him and much more in this video.

Special thanks to ScoutingOhio.com for producing this video.