Key player will miss rest of the season for Indiana

• Sophomore guard Austin Etherington will miss the remainder of the season after fracturing the patella in his left leg Saturday night against Central Connecticut State

Austin Etherington will miss the remainder of the season after fracturing the patella in his left leg Saturday night against Central Connecticut State.

Etherington had surgery Sunday morning in Indianapolis. The surgery was performed by IU team doctor Steve Ahlfeld.

Etherington, a sophomore from Cicero, Ind. and one of three members of a recruiting class that also included Cody Zeller and Remy Abell, averaged 6.7 minutes of action in seven games this season. He was averaging 1.9 points and 1.7 rebounds per game.

He suffered the injury with 2:28 to play in the first half when his knee collided with the knee of a Central Connecticut player while Etherington was guarding him on a drive to the basket. He immediately collapsed in a heap under the IU basket and was eventually taken off the court in a gurney.

"Anytime you lose a valued member of your program it not only hurts the team, but also everyone's hearts," said IU coach Tom Crean in a press release sent out by the university's media relations department. "Austin has been doing an excellent job improving and now we have to help him overcome this setback and move forward."

Crean said his players have had experience in helping teammates through difficult injuries. In 2009, Maurice Creek fractured his patella in a late December game against Bryant. The following year, Creek had a stress fracture in his knee against Michigan. Last season, Creek suffered a torn Achille tendon just prior to the start of practice.

"Our players have experience in this area and everyone is looking forward to helping him recover," Crean said. "As serious as his injury was, we are thankful that it was not worse. We have such an outstanding medical team I could not imagine going through something like this without them. We are fortunate to have them."

Later in the day Sunday, Crean tweeted about his injured forward.

"Austin Etherington was in a good frame of mind earlier today after surgery," Crean wrote in his Tweet. "He is handling this very well. He has a long road of rehab ahead."

His brother, Alex Etherington, a senior at Hamilton Heights, tweeted a picture of Austin in his hospital bed in Indianapolis Sunday with a note. "One of the toughest doods I know," Alex sent in his Tweet. "He has been through so much already."

Terry Hutchens also writes for the Indianapolis Star.