BLOOMINGTON — Indiana basketball is in wait-and-see mode on starting center Kel'el Ware.

The Hoosiers (12-7; 4-4 Big Ten) head to Illinois on Saturday looking to avoid a three-game losing streak. They have dropped four of the their last six games since re-entering Big Ten play.

Ware sat out Indiana's 91-79 loss to Wisconsin after suffering an ankle injury in the days leading up to the game. He made the trip to Madison, but was wearing a boot on his right foot.

Indiana coach Mike Woodson said the 7-foot-0 center was on the practice floor for the first time this week on Wednesday in a very limited fashion and will be evaluated after Thursday's practice.

"He did some warmup drills with us," Woodson said. "Nothing where he's had contact where he had -- has to cut and -- and block out and block shots, things of that nature, no. He just basically did some endurance stuff on the floor with us during our warm up. So I'll get a better feel today once we get down there."

Ware, who is averaging 14.2 points and team-high 9.4 rebounds per game, would be a potential mismatch against an Illini team with nobody in the front court bigger than 6-foot-10, but is one of the more effective rebounding teams in the country with 43.3 per game (No. 5 in the country) while holding teams to 43.5% shooting.

"They are different than anybody we've played this season, they play small ball," Woodson said.

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: IU basketball unsure of Kel'el Ware's status for game vs. Illinois