After suffering injuries against Iowa, Malik Reneau and Xavier Johnson are uncertain to play against Penn State on Saturday.
IU head coach Mike Woodson provided updates on the pair during a media availability over Zoom on Friday. He said Reneau is dealing with an ankle injury and Johnson has an elbow injury.
“Right now, we’re still evaluating them. I’ll know more today when we get to practice,” Woodson said. “I spoke to Tim (Garl) this morning. At this point, I don’t really know. I don’t. It was X’s elbow and Malik’s ankle. They didn’t do anything yesterday, so we’ll see if they’re on the floor to do something today. We’ll see.”
Reneau went down less than four minutes into the game against the Hawkeyes on Tuesday. When the sophomore got up, he was heavily favoring his left leg. He did not play the rest of the game, and he eventually returned to the bench with crutches.
Johnson went down later in the second half of Tuesday’s game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The sixth-year went up for a dunk in a big moment in the game and drew a foul, but fell hard. He rolled around on the ground and screamed in clear pain, and he didn’t play the rest of the game.
Reneau is Indiana’s leading scorer this season, with 16 points per game. His volume has been significantly higher, with 6.4 field goals made on 11.1 attempts per game. He’s added 5.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.
Johnson missed seven games in December with a foot injury, and had trouble regaining his form upon returning. He’d played better the last two games, though, with 14 points against Illinois and nine against Iowa before the injury. He’s averaged 8.3 points and 2.1 assists per game on the year.
You can watch Woodson’s full comments on the pair here:
Watch: Mike Woodson discusses health of IU basketball team, previews Penn State
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