After both missed Tuesday night's 97-87 overtime victory over Nebraska, Drew Thelwell and Cooper Koch look to have different health outcomes.
Thelwell, who missed the contest with a "tweaked lower leg injury" looks to be available vs. Indiana on Saturday, while Cooper Koch could miss the rest of the season due to an undisclosed medical issue.
Head coach Fran McCaffery provided updates on Thursday afternoon.
Though McCaffery expects Thelwell to play on Saturday, that's tentative for the moment.
"I really have no basis to say that, you know, from a medical standpoint," McCaffery said. "It's really depending on how he feels. We'll just be really smart with how we use him these next two days and try to get him ready."
The team had an off day on Wednesday, but Thelwell is expected to have some limited participation in practice before the matchup with the Hoosiers.
"We'll see. I wouldn't push him," McCaffery added. "I probably won't push him too much tomorrow."
The Morehead State transfer guard came to Iowa for his final season of eligibility and has had a significant impact early on. Against Wisconsin last Friday, Thelwell led the Hawkeyes in scoring with a season-high 25 points. So far this season, he's averaging 10.1 points, 3.2 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game and was inserted into he starting lineup after starting the season coming off the bench.
"He's really important because we survived the other night with Brock (Harding) and Josh (Dix) playing so many minutes, but that's problematic over the course of the season," McCaffery added. "We can survive it, but you need Drew's versatility, both defensively and offensive. He can play the off-guard position, and he can take over and run the point."
McCaffery was not as optimistic about Koch's situation.
"Cooper's not going to be ready this weekend," he said. "Moving forward, that's up to the medical personnel, but he's not going to be ready right now."
It's unclear as to whether or not Koch will have the opportunity to see the floor again this season.
"[Taking a medical redshirt] would be a possibility," McCaffery added. "He's had surgery and so forth."
Koch, who was a four-star recruit and the No. 118 player in the class of 2024, was immediately a member of the regular rotation and was just beginning to look more comfortable on the floor for Iowa.
"It's not been easy for him," McCaffery said. "I really feel for him because he's a wonderful kid and a really good player. We could really use him. He desperately wants to be out there, but we're on top of his health situation, which is the most important thing."
In what's been an injury riddled season for the Hawkeyes entire roster, Thelwell and Koch aren't the only ones who have missed time with injuries, big and small. Seydou Traore has sporadically missed time with a sprained ankle, Chris Tadjo suffered a concussion in practice, Owen Freeman tweaked an ankle recently and missed time, Freeman and Riley Mulvey have had to sit out with illnesses, Josh Dix and Payton Sandfort have each battled wrist injuries, and the list goes on.
"It's frustrating for us as we try to figure it out, but it's feel bad for the guys that [have gotten hurt]," McCaffery added on Thursday. "Seydou was playing really well when he got hurt. Drew's playing really well. And you want to get those guys back, and now they're missing time, and they're both new. Owen was out. That happened the day before the game -- he just tweaked it. Had a lot of situations where guys get injured in warm-ups, but it's not really a new injury. It's an aggravated situation. So we just hope to always have enough depth to survive it if you can. Sometimes you can, sometimes you can't."
NEXT: The Hawkeyes will face off against Indiana (12-3, 3-1) in Carver Hawkeye-Arena on Saturday, January 11. The game will be broadcast at 7 pm CST on Fox.
Iowa will host a high-priority official visitor this weekend for the matchup with the Hoosiers.
