Mike Woodson Unsure if Xavier Johnson, Malik Reneau Will Play Against Penn State

At 13-8 overall, Indiana is in a three-way tie for sixth place in the Big Ten with a 5-5 conference record, and Woodson is unsure how long Indiana may have to go without Johnson and Reneau.

"It's been a struggle because we just haven't had a full deck, and I don't know if we're ever going to have one to be honest with you," Woodson said. "You know, I mean, I don't know what's going to happen with X, and I don't how long Malik might be out, if he's going to be out. So we just got to keep that next man mentality, it's got to stay in play, man. Guys that haven't logged a lot of minutes, your number might be called and you've got to be ready to step up and help us win basketball games."

Johnson has played in just 14 of Indiana's 21 games, and he missed all of December after suffering a foot injury against Harvard on Nov. 26. He has struggled to return to his best form when healthy, averaging a career-low 8.3 points and 2.1 assists when. Johnson's 18-point effort led Indiana to a win over Ohio State, but he has also committed multiple flagrant and technical fouls during losses.

Reneau is Indiana's leading scorer at 16 points per game, and he has started all 21 contests. The 6-foot-9 sophomore has scored 20-plus points in five games, including a career-high 34 points and 11 rebounds against Kennesaw State. Along with crafty post moves, Reneau has developed into one of Indiana's best 3-points shooters at 40.6% on 32 attempts. 

Indiana still defeated Iowa without Reneau and Johnson, but the win continued a season-long theme of injuries. Woodson didn't sense the team feeling down after Johnson and Reneau went out, but he's admittedly frustrated by the amount of injuries this season.

"I don't think any of our guys were down," Woodson said. "It's been this way, guys, since November. We haven't had a full team since November, and nobody's even printed that. You know, it's like, 'Go win anyway.' I get it, I mean, nobody wants to win in a worse way than Mike Woodson with this ball club. But I think when you put a team together, you're hoping that that team can get through a season or be there just to see exactly what kind of a team you do have." 

"That's been the frustrating part for me from a coaching standpoint because I do think if we're pretty healthy and guys do what they're asked to do, we could be a pretty decent basketball team."

After allowing 87 and 91 points in back-to-back games against Purdue and Wisconsin, respectively, Indiana held Illinois and Iowa – the Big Ten's second and third-highest scoring teams – to at least 12 points below there season averages. 

With uncertainty surrounding Johnson and Reneau, Woodson is focused on continuing to help Indiana's defense improve. 

"From a coaching standpoint, I'm still reaching and grabbing and scratching because we haven't had a full deck," Woodson said. "We had it for a few minutes the other night, then all hell broke loose. Malik goes down, X goes down. So all we're doing is just trying to work, continue to work on our rotations, things of that nature that some of these young guys are not used to doing to stay as solid as we can from a defensive standpoint. I thought the six, four, five days that we had leading into the Illinois game gave us an opportunity to get back to some of the basic stuff. It was like starting all over again, and it was a nice carry over to the Illinois game. Then the other night against Iowa, having the big guy [Kel'el Ware] back, that helped. That's why we brought him here."