It doesn’t matter.
Junior guard James Blackmon Jr.’s 3-pointer to beat Penn State isn’t relevant. Nor are those last few minutes of the second half when IU did everything but hand the game to the Nittany Lions.
IU won — and that’s swell, I guess — but right now the only thing that does matter for IU Head Coach Tom Crean, Hoosier fanatics and the state of Indiana is OG Anunoby’s right knee.
With fewer than 30 seconds left in the first half, Anunoby suffered an apparent no-contact injury as he planted his leg underneath the opponent’s basket.
“There were a lot of tears in there at halftime,” Crean said on the IU basketball postgame radio show. “No one is sure what’s going on with one of their brothers, and he’s got tears, too. It’s hard. It’s hard to walk out of that locker-room, me leaving him. It’s like walking out on one of your kids.”
Crean could be heard tearing up giving this answer on OG’s health, which signifies the magnitude of the injury and just how important it was for him and the rest of the roster.
With sophomore forward Juwan Morgan missing Wednesday’s game against Penn State, IU already had a dearth of front court players. It was tough before the contest started. Now it’s a calamity.
Averaging 11.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, Anunoby was obviously a key for the Hoosiers to make the tournament and the successive run that the Hoosier faithful convinced themselves of.
We don’t know the full extent of his knee injury, but as the phenom lay on court of the Bryce Jordan Center, IU could see its hopes and dreams for the 2016-17 season flash before its eyes.
There are no ifs, ands or buts to this sentence. If Anunoby’s injury is as bad as it looked and IU fans fear, that’s it for the Hoosiers to be contenders in the Big Ten, let alone college basketball.
Breaking out at the end of last season, Anunoby became a budding star in the collegiate basketball world. A potential lottery pick if everything broke right, Anunoby has been solid this entire season, with moments of sheer brilliance and dominance. As a sophomore, his potential is reminiscent of former IU wingman Victor Oladipo. Without him, this team is finished.
With senior forward Collin Hartman sidelined indefinitely, Morgan’s game-to-game foot injury and Anunoby about to be riding the bench, IU is rapidly losing their frontcourt depth, one of their major masteries heading into the season.
It seems now that their only alternative is to focus around sophomore center Thomas Bryant and Blackmon on offense with a further emphasis on the defensive side of the ball. Losing Anunoby will also open up playing time for freshman big man De’Ron Davis who has played well as a reserve, but will now see more meaningful minutes.
One of IU’s major faults through its first 19 games has been its continual turnovers and sloppy play. The talent on this team made up for these lapses in quite a few matchups, but with that waning as Anunoby is off the court indeterminately, the Hoosiers need to quickly fix that predicament.
Blackmon’s buzzer-beater as time expired saved the Hoosiers from the darkest of Wednesdays. It wasn’t pretty, but a road win of that caliber is certainly a pick-me-up for IU. Nonetheless its significance and consequence only goes so far with what happened at the end of the first half.
As the players left the court and the fans went to replenish their popcorn and sodas, Anunoby remained on the court. He slowly got up and held onto Morgan and IU strength coach Lyonel Anderson to make his way to the locker room.
He limped.
Slowly.
Just like how IU surely will through the rest of this season if Anunoby’s injury is as serious as it looks.
gigottfr@indiana.edu
@gott31
