The Indiana Hoosiers have gotten off to a great start in Big Ten play as they have won their first three games, the first two of which were on the road. The Hoosiers pulled out a tough win against Wisconsin on Tuesday night, but the news wasn't all good for Tom Crean's team, as starting guard James Blackmon Jr. underwent surgery on his knee. Blackmon is likely to miss the rest of the season due to the surgery, according to Jeff Goodman of ESPN.
Indiana is still holding out some sort of hope that the sophomore guard can return at some point this season, but as of now that doesn't look very promising. Blackmon sustained the injury during a non-contact situation in practice, and until earlier this week Crean and Indiana said he was still being evaluated. The exact injury to Blackmon's knee has not been released, but it had caused him to miss the first two Big Ten games.
The sophomore guard will not be eligible for a medical redshirt considering he has already played in 13 games this year. Blackmon had surgery on his left knee last summer, but this time the injury is to his right knee. The surgery reportedly went well, and Blackmon is expected to make a full recovery for next season.
Losing Blackmon is a huge loss for an Indiana team that looks like it is headed straight for the bubble come NCAA tournament time. Blackmon was second on the team with his 15.8 points per game and was shooting extremely efficiently (48 percent from the field and 46 percent from three), all while establishing himself as one of the top guards in the nation.
As of now, Indiana's resume doesn't feature any crippling losses (the Hoosiers are 13-3), but it also features only a home win over Notre Dame and not much else. Without Blackmon, the Hoosiers will have to have other players step up to fill the void if they want to enhance their resume and be a factor come March. Collin Hartman has stepped into the starting lineup to replace Blackmon but has been splitting minutes with Nick Zeisloft to try and offset the loss of Blackmon. Both of those guys are shooting over 40 percent from the three point line this season and can stretch the floor, but neither are the type of playmakers that Blackmon is, so a lot of the onus will now fall on Yogi Ferrell's shoulders for what likely is the rest of the season.
