As Ohio State continues to wait to take the court again, head coach Chris Holtmann was out recruiting, building the roster for next year.

However, come Dec. 26, after the Christmas holiday, the head coach fully expects Ohio State to be back on the court for a two-a-day practice, preparing for their final non-conference game of the year against New Orleans.

As the holiday season rolls on, here's five things Holtmann would like from his team heading into conference play.

First and foremost, the Buckeyes have to get healthy.

After winning four straight against Duke, Penn State, Towson and Wisconsin, the Ohio State basketball program was shut down due to multiple positive COVID-19 cases within the program, leading to canceled games against Kentucky in the CBS Sports Classic and its second-to-last non-conference matchup against Tennessee Martin.

Before the positive cases, the Buckeyes were already short handed.

Ohio State has played without redshirt senior forwards Justice Sueing (abdomen) and Seth Towns (back) for the majority of the season. On his radio show Monday, Holtmann said that both are still on track to return this season, but that both remain weeks away.

Once Ohio State returns to the court, with the head coach saying he expects to play one final game against New Orleans at home Dec. 28 to end the non-conference season, the Buckeyes will need all the depth it can get once they get into the meat of conference play and into the tournament.

Sueing was scheduled to play a major role, with Holtmann enclosing that much of Ohio State's strategy was planning to revolve around the redshirt senior forward in 2021-22, while Towns provides size, scoring and experience as one of the first bodies off the bench.

Both Sueing and Towns will be vital if they return. If not, their absences will prove to loom large.

There's no question that E.J. Liddell has been one of the best players in the Big Ten through his first 10 games of the season.

The junior forward is one of four players in the conference averaging 20 points or more per game, one of 13 with at least seven rebounds per game and No. 3 with 2.9 blocks per game.

However, as of late, what's really held Liddell back was his handling of the basketball.

Heading into the Wisconsin game, the Ohio State junior recorded 19 turnovers in four games, including a career-high six against Towson.

Holtmann said the increased number of turnovers is because of the increased amount of time the ball is in his hands, with opposing defenders swarming the forward, trapping him as Ohio State's No. 1 scorer.

However, it's something he seemed to begin to adjust to against Wisconsin.

After two turnovers in his first six minutes of play, the junior failed to record another against the Badgers, adding four assists.

When Ohio State returns from its extended hiatus, the attention on Liddell is not going to change. It's something he's going to have to get used to, something that seemed to be in progress for the majority of the game against Wisconsin.

Zed Key isn't the biggest forward in the Big Ten. But for Ohio State, he's probably been one of the most important.

Standing at 6-foot-8, 245 pounds, the sophomore has been consistent in the post, shooting a team-high 62.5% from the field. Defensively, he's been a presence with 5.7 rebounds and nearly a block per game.

But it's not about forwards or big men getting over Key. One of the things he's shown is an inability to get intimidated in the post, making life difficult no matter how much of an advantage a particular player has on him.

The rebounds seem to be coming for the sophomore forward, recording 18 against Towson and Wisconsin combined with three blocks, three fouls and one total turnover.

If Key can show that level of physicality without turning the ball over or fouling, he's going to be the X-factor for Ohio State moving forward.

Both Meechie Johnson Jr. and Malaki Branham have shown spurts of greatness for Ohio State in their freshman seasons.

For Johnson, the peak is a deep threat from 3, while also showing a level of tenacity defensively in the backcourt he seemed to pick up from redshirt senior point guard Jamari Wheeler.

For Branham, it's a driving playmaker, one that can use his size both in the post as a scorer and a rebound, also pushing the tempo of the offense as a while with his length and speed.

But both have failed to show that consistency. For every game that Branham and Johnson shine, like both did against Penn State, there's games like Branham's against Wisconsin — recording four turnovers, two rebounds and no points in 14 minutes — or Johnson's against Florida — making one of seven attempts from the field, while mossing all five 3-point attempts, while adding three turnovers.

The skills are there. But the "freshman" nature is there too, something Holtmann has been quick to point out, knowing that growing pains would come for the pair, especially with the prominent roles both play.

Justin Ahrens is being Justin Ahrens: providing one of the more consistent 3-point shots in the conference.

Kyle Young is being Kyle Young: showing a level of consistency the redshirt senior forward has defined his career off, including stepping up in the post and from deep offensively.

Jamari Wheeler is being Jamari Wheeler: being that pest defensively along with one of the best assist-to-turnover ratios in the conference.

But Ohio State still needs that help.

And that needs to come from a player like Cedric Russell.

The redshirt senior guard is averaging just nine minutes per game and has shown spurts of greatness, like 12 points in 15 minutes against Duke, while also shooting nearly 50% from 3.

While Russell won't likely get a chance as a starter, ge can be a key scorer for the Buckeyes off the bench, lengthening a roster that needs to be as deep as can be without Sueing and Towns. It's something he showed against Wisconsin too. Other than the four turnovers, Russell scored seven points on three makes on six attempts.

If he can be trusted as a scorer and an offensive playmaker, Ohio State's going to be hard to stop offensively, still sitting as one of the best units in terms of offensive efficiency in the country.