Woodson Says Jalen Hood-Schifino Back at Practice, Hopeful for Saturday at Kansas

Indiana coach Mike Woodson said freshman guard Jalen Hood-Schifino has been back on the floor shooting around and is hoping to go through a full practice. The Hoosiers could really use him in Saturdays big game at No. 8 Kansas.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Freshman guard Jalen Hood Schifino has missed three straight games for Indiana because of a back injury, and it's no coincidence that the Hoosiers have lost twice without him.

He's been that important to this team, and his absence is huge.

Indiana coach Mike Woodson met with the media on Thursday morning, and said that the 6-foot-6 Hood-Schifino — who is averaging 8.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game through seven starts — was back on the floor shooting around on Wednesday and he is optimistic that he will practice on Thursday ahead of Saturdays's huge nonconference showdown with No. 8 Kansas at Phog Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence.

"(Thursday) we're going to start him out on the floor and see if he can go practice,'' said Woodson, who had back surgery himself during his senior year at Indiana in 1979-80. "The last few days, he's kind of shot around and done some things. He's moving around. So today we're going to let him bang a little bit and see where he is (Friday). You've got to be patient with it, then I think the player himself will lead you in the direction that he wants to go. 

"From a medical standpoint, I think he's fine in that regard. But, again, when you can't do the things that you're used to doing on the floor, move around like you normally do, that's a problem. That's what he was experiencing. The last few days he's been on the floor shooting, moving around. He got a good workout on our off day (Wednesday). So now we'll see if can he handle the pounding a little bit (Thursday) in practice, then see how he feels (Friday.)

Indiana is a better team with Hood-Schifino on the floor because Woodson likes the look with two point guards playing together. Senior Xavier Johnson misses him, too. He had six turnovers in the loss at Rutgers on Dec. 3, and then seven in the win against Nebraska last Wednesday. He was better in the loss against Arizona, with just two turnovers and 11 assists, but the Hoosiers missed Hood-Schifino's rebounding in a big way.

What hurt the most was that Johnson picked up two early fouls and had to go to the bench. As soon as he did, Arizona went on a 17-0 and led by 19 points at one point. Indiana made several runs to get within five several times, but could never get over the hump in an 89-75 loss.

"Kansas plays well at home. If you look at their record over the last 16, 17 years or so, they haven't lost very many games at home,'' Woodson said. "We're going to have to go in there and commit to 40 minutes, do it on both ends of the floor and see what happens.

"I know one thing, we can't come out and start a game like we did against Arizona and dig a hole and expect to win. That was tough the other night. We fought back and did a lot of good things, but against good teams you got to be in the game early, give yourself a chance.''

Kansas is 9-1 on the season, with its only loss coming on Nov. 25 in the Bahamas, when the Jayhawks fell 66-50 to Tennessee, who is now ranked No. 6 in the country. The game starts at Noon ET, and is televised on ESPN2.

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