When Verdell Jones went down with an injury at Michigan on Feb.1, Tom Crean and the Hoosiers had to find a way to replace him.

Victor Oladipo, Jordan Hulls and Remy Abell all had the ball in their hands more often during the two games Jones was out. Oladipo and Abell shined in the Purdue game, and Hulls effectively ran the offense from the point-guard position against Illinois.

Now that Jones is returning, Indiana faces a different challenge. The Hoosiers must integrate their senior guard back into the team without missing a beat.

“It’s been good,” Crean said of mixing Jones back into the lineup. “It helps again to something we’ve tried to become, which is deeper. He’s gonna play. He’s done an excellent job and continued to get better.”

The obvious question with Jones returning is how will it affect Oladipo’s role?

Oladipo handled the ball more against the Boilermakers than he has at any point during his Indiana career. Crean said the Hoosiers were going to have other primary ball handlers against Purdue even if Jones had played. But nobody expected that kind of production from Oladipo.

The sophomore guard scored a career-high 23 points to go along with eight rebounds, four assists, two blocks and only two turnovers. Oladipo followed that up with 18 points, five rebounds and three assists last Thursday against Illinois.

With Jones out, Oladipo has shined. When Jones returns for the No. 18 Hoosiers against Northwestern at 6:30 tonight, Oladipo will likely be the player most affected.

Crean was asked how Oladipo’s role would change with Jones healthy.

“Do you think there’s any reason to change it?,” Crean asked.

“Well, no,” the reporter returned.

“Me neither,” Crean said. “Vic’s doing fine. It comes down to how locked in he is defensively, what his energy is like on that [end]. Is he rebounding the ball well? Is his decision-making good? As those things continue to stride, it’s amazing how well he scores when that’s happening, it’s amazing how well he gets to the rim.”

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Indiana guard Verdell Jones, who missed the Hoosiers’ past two games after suffering a bruised shoulder in a loss to Michigan on Feb. 1, will return on Wednesday evening when the Hoosiers host Northwestern at Assembly Hall.

“He’ll play. This has been a good break for him to get back,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said on Tuesday evening. “He hasn’t had a full week of full go, but at the same time, he’s back and we fully expect to play him tomorrow night.”

The 6-foot-5 senior from Champaign, Ill. is averaging 7.8 points and 3.5 assists per game and has started all 23 games he’s appeared in this season.

Crean did not specify whether Jones would return to the starting lineup, but said the senior was playing at a high level in the three games prior to his injury.

“The three games before he got hurt, take the Michigan game out, which nobody played well in the first half, he’d really been playing well, and I thought he was doing some excellent things on both sides, so it’s gonna be good to have him back in it,” he said. “But how that plays out in a game, we’ll see.”