IU basketball was without one of its most talented players on Wednesday night as it played Penn State at home. Malik Reneau, who missed the first game between the two teams with a knee injury earlier this year, was out of the lineup again on Wednesday — this time for different reasons.
Reneau, who wasn’t listed on the Big Ten Availability Report leading into the game, did not take the court during pregame warmups, or during the game. IU head coach Mike Woodson addressed the situation following IU’s 83-78 win.
“Malik, right now, I’m just — I’ve got to get an update. I know we took him to the hospital, the emergency (room). He was fine in shoot-around. Then he came down with something,” Woodson said. “So I don’t know where we are with Malik right now. But the sooner he can get back, the better.”
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It has been an up and down stretch for the junior forward since returning to the lineup on Jan. 22. In the last four games, however, he has found his pre-injury play and is averaging 16.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists while shooting 57.4 percent from the floor. He surpassed the 1,000-point mark during Sunday’s win over No. 13 Purdue.
Indiana, now at 17-11 (8-9), has three games remaining — including a critical two-game road trip out west to face off against Washington and Oregon. Then, it returns home for its home-finale against Ohio State.
It’s unclear if Reneau will make the trip with IU basketball, who is expected to make the trip later today.
“It’s next man up,” Woodson said if Reneau isn’t ready to go. “Everybody’s got to just stay ready.”
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