Indiana basketball head coach Mike Woodson provides injury update on Kel’el Ware

Indiana basketball center Kel’el Ware did not play in Friday night’s 91-79 loss to No. 11 Wisconsin due to an ankle injury he suffered in practice this week. He did not dress for warmups and was seen with a boot on his foot during the game.

After the game, head coach Mike Woodson provided an update on Ware’s status and how the injury occurred.

“Well, he went down in practice, came down on somebody’s foot and turned his ankle, and it blew up on him,” Woodson said. “So I mean, what are you going to do … I really don’t know (how long Ware will be out). I have no idea how long..”

This was the second game this season that Ware missed and also the second start Payton Sparks received in Ware’s place.

Sparks received praise from Mike Woodson following the game. He had seven points, two rebounds, two steals and one block in a season-high 29 minutes.

Sparks played just eight minutes against Purdue, received a DNP against Minnesota and played three minutes against Rutgers.

“I thought Payton played an excellent game for a guy that hadn’t played very many minutes,” Woodson said. “I thought he was one of the positive signs tonight, which is kind of nice to see … Not having the big fella (Ware) hurt a little bit tonight. But, I thought Payton gave us some positive minutes.”

Ware has been an extremely consistent player for Indiana this season, currently averaging 14.2 points, 9.4 rebound and 1.6 blocks per game.

The 7-foot center has seven double-doubles this season.

“Well, it’s the second effort. When we first got him, that didn’t even exist in terms of him making second and third efforts to try to go get the basketball. A lot of it was he just hadn’t been taught and pushed to do it. I mean, it’s like night and day from the time we got him to where he is today in terms of going hard and understanding that you just can’t take possessions off,” Indiana basketball head coach Mike Woodson said earlier this week. “From where he was, man, he’s come a long way, and it’s kind of nice to see because a lot of people just didn’t expect that because he hadn’t played.

“I just think there’s a lot of room for growth. He’s a young, talented 7-footer that does a lot of good things for you.”

Ware has scored in double-figures in 14 of his 17 appearances this season. He is averaging 13.4 points, 10.7 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game in Big Ten games.

Indiana basketball (12-7, 4-4) has a week off before traveling to take on No. 14 Illinois on the road.

SEE ALSO: ‘We gotta stop doing things we shouldn’t do’: Indiana basketball lacks discipline and Friday’s loss to Wisconsin only emphasized that

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