COLUMBUS, Ohio –– Despite Ohio State’s lack of size, the Buckeyes’ tallest player has hardly seen the hardwood even when healthy this season.

Sophomore center Ibrahima Diallo, a 6-foot-10 center and native of Senegal, has logged just nine minutes stretched thin over three nonconference games at the start of the year, and although hopes didn’t seem high that he would factor into the lineup more as the season progressed, a concussion and knee injury have sidelined Diallo since late December.

Looming large for Ohio State is a matchup with No. 8 Iowa and 6-foot-11 National Player of the Year frontrunner Luka Garza, and if ever there was a time that Buckeye head coach Chris Holtmann could get some minutes out of a spare big man, it would be Thursday night.

“It’s a game where, quite honestly, I would love to have Ibrahima available, just to have another big with size and length around the rim,” Holtmann said. “This is kind of the perfect game to have another body like that that has some length and size.”

If he did play, it would only be Diallo’s fourth appearance in a Big Ten game, and potentially his first time notching more than two minutes in conference play. However, that opportunity won’t come for the former Prolific Prep prospect out of Napa Valley, California.

Holtmann ruled Diallo out with a knee injury on Dec. 30, one that he suffered in practice, and while the Buckeye coach said at the time that it won’t require season-ending surgery, it would keep him out indefinitely.

Diallo hasn’t been back since, which means the Buckeyes will match up with Garza and company in typically undersized fashion, but with sophomore forward E.J. Liddell, senior forward Kyle Young and freshman forward Zed Key all standing at 6-foot-8 or under, the Hawkeyes may look to feed the post even more than usual –– if that’s possible.

Of particular distress for Holtmann is the ease with which Garza can rack up fouls on an opposing team. Just one time all in Big Ten play this season has Iowa finished the game with more fouls than its opponent, and the Hawkeyes average four less fouls per game than the conference foes they have gone up against.

RELATED: Stats show OSU has fared better vs. Garza than all but one Big Ten team

“They do a great job of getting you in foul trouble, so it is a concern,” Holtmann said. “I think you have to be aware that they just do such a great job of putting you in difficult positions.”

In fact, his desire to have another big come Thursday may just be for the simple fact that they could take some fouls that will otherwise be called on Liddell, Young or Key.

Liddell, who leads Ohio State in scoring this season at 15.3 points per game, has often drawn the tough defensive assignment of guarding opposing centers that tower over his 6-foot-7 frame. Liddell’s strength and athleticism at 240 pounds helps even things out, but he’s been playing too well recently for Ohio State to afford him getting in foul trouble.

In the past three games, Liddell is averaging 20.7 points per game on almost 58 percent shoots, which means his offense may be too valuable to leave him guarding Garza for long stretches on Thursday.

No matter who the Buckeyes throw up against Garza, it will be no easy task, and even the teams that have knocked off the Hawkeyes this season have taken their licks from the big man. But a positive takeaway for Holtmann’s team is that several teams have defeated Iowa this season regardless of a big night from the big man.

Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. Thursday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.