Bassett likely out against Wolverines

A new year, a new injury.\nArmon Bassett, the team’s starting point guard at the beginning of the season, likely will not play against Michigan today. The sophomore guard chipped bones in his ankle during non-conference play and only played three minutes in the No. 10 Hoosiers’ 79-76 win against Iowa on Jan. 2.\n“Not having him is a blow for us,” IU coach Kelvin Sampson said during a teleconference with reporters Monday.\n“For our team to be as good as it needs to be, Armon needs to be our point guard. He’s our best point guard,” he said.\nSampson said Bassett’s injury could require surgery, though the coach was unsure. \n“He’s getting a lot of treatment, a lot of rehab,” Sampson said. “It’s something that’s going to bother him the rest of the year. He may have to have surgery at some point and be out, or it may get him through to the end of the year. But right now he’s out.”\nThe injury is the latest in a string of incidents that have left the Hoosiers depleted at the guard position this season. \nBassett sat out three games earlier this season while serving a suspension for violating an undisclosed team rule. His suspension followed freshman guard Jordan Crawford’s three-game suspension, also for violating an undisclosed team rule. Crawford returned for IU’s home game against Kentucky, but freshman guard Eric Gordon sat out with a bruised tailbone. Senior guard A.J. Ratliff was academically ineligible for the first nine games of the season and missed the following three with an injured ankle. \nRatliff made his season debut last week against Iowa, playing 15 minutes and scoring two points on 1-of-3 shooting from the field.\nWith Bassett on the bench, Sampson said Ratliff, the only remaining scholarship guard with at least one year’s experience, will have to step up his play. His shaky performance against the Hawkeyes was likely part rust, part lack of confidence, Sampson said. \n“You can tell that’s what’s lacking with him right now,” Sampson said.\nThe Wolverines (4-10, 0-2) broke the Hoosiers’ (12-1, 1-0) 11-game series win streak when they topped IU 58-55 last season in Ann Arbor. \nMichigan lost the majority of its starters from last year, but new coach John Beilein’s squad boasts one of the top freshmen in the Big Ten, Manny Harris. The 6-foot-5 guard is second in the conference in freshman scoring and fifth overall, averaging 16.4 points per game. \nGordon ranks first in both categories, averaging 23.5 points per game. \nBeilein knows his team needs to stop Gordon if he wants to notch his first win in conference play. \nDuring the teleconference, Beilein said the way Gordon shoots and passes the ball is unlike most freshmen. \n“He’s got a lot of the elements that normally (are) more common to a sophomore or a junior,” Beilein said.\nIf IU wins, it would be the first time the Hoosiers started conference play 2-0 on the road since the 2002 Final Four team.