Hoosiers lose sophomore Etherington for season due to knee injury

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP/WANE) -- No. 1 Indiana has lost sophomore forward Austin Etherington for the rest of the season because of a fractured left kneecap.

Etherington was hurt late in the first half of Saturday night's 100-69 victory over Central Connecticut State. After being called for a foul on the play, he stayed on the ground and was surrounded by teammates and coaches. He was lifted onto a stretcher and pointed to the crowd as he was wheeled off the court.

On Sunday, the team said Etherington had season-ending surgery.

"Anytime you lose a valued member of your program it not only hurt the team, but also everyone's hearts," said Indiana Coach Tom Cream.  "Austin has been doing an excellent job improving and now we have to help him overcome this setback and move forward.  Our players have experience in this area and everyone is looking forward to helping him recover.  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."

Etherington's playing time had steadily increased as the Hoosiers (9-0) moved through the nonconference schedule.