Indiana junior guard Devonte Green will be available when the Hoosiers take on No. 6 Michigan State in East Lansing on Saturday, IU head coach Archie Miller said Friday.
"Devonte is back. He's back full go as of yesterday's practice," Miller said. "Barring unforeseen things, Devonte should be back in the mix for us in terms of availability to play."
Green has missed Indiana's last three games due to suspension. The program has not specified the nature of the disciplinary action beyond attributing it to "not meeting the standards expected of members of the program" when it was first announced on Jan. 22.
The North Babylon, N.Y. native's return at a minimum will give the Hoosiers someone who create their own shot and shoot the ball with confidence, a desperate need after their bench got outscored 19-2 in Wednesday night's loss at Rutgers with the lone two points coming off a pair of free throws by sophomore forward Clifton Moore.
Prior to his suspension, Green was averaging 8.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 24.5 minutes per game this season. He has started in five of the 14 games he's appeared in. Additionally, his 24.6 minutes per game shares at that time tied with sophomore guard Al Durham Jr. for most among IU's bench players and fifth-most among all Hoosiers on the roster. Green is shooting 38.5 percent from the floor and 36.9 percent from 3-point range.
Indiana senior forward Juwan Morgan said he spoke with Green when he returned to practice on Thursday, emphasizing to Green to control what he can control.
"We know all the things he's capable of doing, and I was just telling him like not to try to over step those things," Morgan said. "I was like, if you see something then do it, but also don't try to make something out of nothing. Everybody kind of knows that's what he's known, for trying to make something out of nothing, and he succeeds sometimes. But also it's just sometimes we don't need those things, and I was just trying to talk to them about that, and just really -- I think him and Rob are the best perimeter defenders we have, and I think just when those two guys -- it starts with them. Every jump ball the point guard brings it up, so just the tenacity they bring from the get-go is really what gets the rest of the team going on defense."
----
• Talk about it inside The Hoops Forum or The Football Forum
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Follow us on Twitter: @IndianaRivals
• Like us on Facebook.
