Hoosiers Likely To Be Shorthanded Again in Rematch with Florida State

Indiana coach Archie Miller said Tuesday that senior center Joey Brunk might be out an extended period of time because of an injured back that's forced him to miss the Hoosiers' first four games.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – It looks like Joey Brunk's injury status is going from day-to-day to week-to-week, with no end in sight. Indiana coach Archie Miler said Tuesday that he has no idea when the 6-foot-11 senior might be ready to play.

"Joey hasn’t participated in anything,'' Miller said during his first media availability since last Wednesday, when the Hoosiers beat Stanford to finish in third place in the Maui Invitational in Asheville, N.C. "I doubt he will be available in the near future just because we are trying to figure out what the best plan of action is for him. 

"We are not planning on having Joey right now or in the immediate future unless something changes.''

Brunk has more all four games for the 3-1 Hoosiers and is dealing with a back issues. Race Thompson has filled in admirably in the starting lineup, but Brunk's absence severely hampers Indiana's depth inside.

Senior guard Al Durham is also doubtful for Wednesday's ACC/Big Ten Challenge game at Florida State. He sprained an ankle in the semifinal loss to Texas and didn't play in the Stanford win. Miller doubts he will play Wednesday night, either.

"We have been limited with our bodies coming out of Asheville,'' Miller said. "Al has been very slow with his recovery. Realistically, he had a tough ankle sprain, and it's only. been about a week. 

"He has started to increase his activity. He did a little more (Monday) in practice, which was a live practice. His live action wasn’t very much. We will see how he feel (Tuesday) and then we don’t play until (Wednesday) night. I assume he will continue to do his treatment and get better. It will be more of a game-time decision to see how he feels.''

Indiana has had a week to work through everything they learned about themselves against quality foes in Providence, Texas and Stanford, but Miller said having a week between games wasn't necessarily a good thing. 

With all the stops and starts to this season already, his players want to play games.

 “In a normal setting, you can use the space in between games to continue to improve and to get better. You have more time to work,'' Miller said. "But I think with what we have done in terms of down time in the offseason and pauses and down time in the preseason, we have been chomping at the bit to get to the games. 

"Once you get a taste of playing the games, you want to play more games. You only are going to get better, especially the young guys, when they get in the heat of the battle. I thought being able to play a game before we went to Maui was really important. The Maui event, playing three games in three days is a difficult challenge, but you are playing the game. You are learning on the run and trying to improve. 

"For us coming out of Maui, it would have been nice to have another game, but looking at what we had to endure down there and with our health status, it was probably good that we had a few days in between. I think right now we’re ready to play the games.''

With COVID-19 wreaking havoc on the college basketball schedule already, Miller is hoping to just stay the course and get through every day. It hasn't been easy, especially without a long stretch of home games that you'd usually see this time of year.

 "I think every team in college basketball right now is almost in slow motion, and you just want to keep it going. You want to keep your momentum going. You want to play,'' Miller said. "For us, I think in a normal setting, you are looking for home games in the month of December, and that’s not the case this year. 

"It's one of those things where we are going to spend the entire month before we get to conference play playing good teams on the road. It's a unique year, but I think in general people want to get to the games right now. They are almost anxious and nervous to play them. You want to play them, and coaches need the games to help their players rather than practicing another four or five times.”

Indiana and Florida State met last year in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The Hoosiers won, with Devonte Green catching fire and scoring 30 points in a wild and frenzied sold-out Assembly Hall.

The circumstances will be different Wednesday night in Tallahassee. The Seminoles, ranked No. 20 in this week's Associated Press poll, have lost only three home games in the last four years. Florida State is the defending ACC champion.

There will be fans in the stands in Tallahassee. There are 2,700 fans allowed, and it will be the first time Indiana has played in front of a crowd this year. No fans at all were allowed in Asheville, and the home opener had 125 people inside Assembly Hall, just family members at staff.

"They really pressure you in a lot of ways, in terms of not allowing you to do what you want to do,'' Miller said. 'Most coaches that you talk to, you can pretty much scrap 95 percent of what you do on a daily basis because it doesn’t work against them. So, you have to go in there with a different mindset and a different game plan. 

"Playing them a year ago, I think it gives the returners an indication on how good they are, but last year’s game, if you remember, was an incredible environment in Assembly Hall. There was a lot of juice in the building, a lot of adrenaline that night. That won’t be the case as we go down there. We won’t have the type of advantage that we had last year in our home building. We'll have to go down to a place where they are very successful. I know they will be ready. They've only played one game, so to me, they have to be chomping at the bit to play against a team like ourselves coming in the door.”

Indiana hasn't had much success on the road in this event, winning just twice in nine tries. The Hoosiers are 5-0 all-time against Florida State, but has never played in Tallahassee.

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