Indiana's Christian Watford Has Surgery on Broken Hand, Out Indefinitely

The Indiana Hoosiers can't catch a break. Heading into the season, the starting lineup looked to be: Guy-Marc Michel, Christian Watford, Maurice Creek, Verdell Jones and Jordan Hulls. Michel was ruled ineligible by the NCAA, Creek is out for the season with a knee injury (for the second straight season), Jones is currently on the shelf with his own knee injury and now Watford will join them.

The sophomore forward, who leads Indiana with 17.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, is going to be sidelined indefinitely after having surgery on a broken left hand. He was averaging more than 22 points per game in his last three, having found his stroke both inside and outside.

Watford injured the hand late in the second half in a loss to Michigan State Sunday evening. He briefly exited the game and appeared to be in pain, clutching his hand. He did re-enter the game and ended up playing all the way through the end of overtime.

Indiana (11-11, 2-7 Big Ten) went through a six-game losing streak a few weeks ago, but has shown signs of life recently -- winning two league games and taking both Michigan State and Wisconsin to the wire on the road. But at some point, the injuries are going to take a severe toll on an already depleted roster.

The Hoosiers host No. 18 Minnesota Wednesday night.