IU might face Penn State without Dumes

Last year it was Eric Gordon’s wrist; this year it’s Devan Dumes’ ankle.

For the second straight season, an injury to IU’s leading scorer has come during one of the most crucial parts of the year.

And like Gordon’s wrist last season, the severity of Dumes’ injury and the availability of the team’s top offensive threat remain in question.

“He is still being evaluated and treated by our doctors. And certainly Tim (Garl) continues to rehabilitate him,” IU coach Tom Crean said during his weekly press conference Tuesday.

“I am not overly hopeful, but at the same time we are not ruling him out, and we just have to continue to see how he heals up over the next few days and see what happens,” he said.

The junior guard originally injured his right ankle on Jan. 10 at Illinois but re-aggravated it last week against No. 6 Michigan State. Crean was careful not to give any “misleading hopes” that Dumes would play Thursday against Penn State in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.

Dumes, the team’s top scorer, has averaged 12.7 ppg this season (12th in the conference) and scored 17.5 ppg in IU’s six victories. 

But since returning from a two-game suspension last month, the junior college transfer has struggled to find his rhythm, averaging just 9.5 ppg and 31 percent shooting in four games before re-aggravating his ankle.

Crean thought Dumes was poised for a “great game against Michigan State,” but the guard only played three minutes before limping off the court.

More than anything, Crean said the Hoosiers miss Dumes’ presence. In addition to his range and ability to score off the dribble, Crean said he is typically “locked-in defensively (and) doesn’t need a lot of help.”

BACKYARD ADVANTAGE

Without any road victories this season, the Hoosiers will take anything resembling a home game.

IU is 1-3 in games at neutral sites this season, which is what Conseco Fieldhouse will technically be Thursday when the Hoosiers face the Nittany Lions.

But with the site of the conference tournament just 50 miles away from Assembly Hall, the Hoosiers are taking some comfort in the fact that they’ll be playing close to home.

“It’s in our backyard, and we play Penn State, who is a little further away, so it will basically be like another home game for us,” freshman guard Verdell Jones said. “Hopefully the crowd will be able to lead us to victory.”

In his weekly teleconference Monday, Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said the Hoosiers will likely be the “Cinderella team” of the tournament and expects the school’s fan base to make the short drive up Highway 37.

Crean said he wasn’t sure if playing in Indianapolis would be an advantage, but is looking forward to playing in “a great venue” nonetheless.

“I had never seen a college basketball game in there until I saw the (IU) ladies play Michigan in there the other day,” he said. “It will be great for our fans, and hopefully over a period of time it will be something that is really good.”

NO LOVE FROM BIG TEN
 
Despite the team’s improvement throughout the season, Crean noted last week there are few “positive results” to show for it.

The drought continued Monday when the Hoosiers were absent from the Big Ten’s season awards, which are voted upon by the conference coaches and media.

IU took home two of the top awards last season, with D.J. White winning Big Ten Player of the Year and Gordon winning Freshman of the Year.

This season, however, the Hoosiers didn’t receive any awards.

Crean said he was a bit surprised by the results, admitting he voted for his own players and thought several of them were worthy, particularly Jones on the conference’s All-Freshmen Team. 

“I guess it goes to show there are a lot of really good players in this league,” he said.