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Head coach Chris Holtmann yells onto the court after a Buckeye lane violation in the first half of the game against Michigan State at the Big Ten tournament on Mar. 14, 2019 in Chicago. Ohio State lost 77-70. Credit: Casey Cascaldo | Managing Editor for Multimedia

The Big Ten Conference has followed suit with the NCAA, announcing that Big Ten Tournament attendance will be limited to essential team members, staff, media and immediate family members due to the coronavirus outbreak beginning Thursday.

NCAA president Mark Emmert announced that attendance for men’s and women’s basketball tournaments would be restricted Wednesday, and the Big Ten’s announcement came approximately two hours later.

“The main priority of the Big Ten Conference is to ensure the safety of our student-athletes, coaches, administrators, fans and media as we continue to monitor all relevant information on the COVID-19 virus on a daily basis,” the Big Ten’s statement read.

All further winter and spring competitions in the Big Ten will be similarly restricted, the statement said.

Prior to Emmert’s announcement, the Big Ten issued a statement at 3:04 p.m. that said its tournament would proceed as planned, though postgame media availability would be moved from locker rooms to a larger area due to coronavirus concerns.

In a press conference prior to the NCAA announcement Wednesday, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said that under forthcoming rules regarding mass gatherings, first-round games in the NCAA Tournament, scheduled to begin March 17 in Dayton, Ohio, and March 20 in Cleveland, will not have spectators, but members of the media are allowed.

Two games are slated to take place in Indianapolis today, including Minnesota against Northwestern –– which is already underway –– and Nebraska against Indiana, which is slated for an 8:25 p.m. tipoff.

Ohio State’s first game is set for a 6:30 p.m. tip against Purdue Thursday.

Prior to the NCAA or Big Ten announcements Wednesday, redshirt junior guard CJ Walker said the team is not concerned about the possibility of playing in front of a mostly empty arena.

“We practice in front of zero people every day,” Walker said. “We love to play basketball. We do this every day, so I mean it would most definitely be different playing in an actual game with nobody there or a lot of people there, but we grind and work every day with nobody there when nobody’s watching.”

That possibility has now become reality for the Buckeyes and the remaining Big Ten teams that will begin conference tournament play Thursday and thereafter.