The Duke basketball team finished the regular season with a win Saturday over bitter rival North Carolina. Duke is going into the ACC conference tournament as the no. 1 seed. The Blue Devils are banged up however, with injuries to Caleb Foster and big man Patrick Ngongba.
Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer is trying to remain positive about the situation.
“I haven’t thought about it yet,” Scheyer said postgame, per Carolina Blitz. “To be honest, the NCAA tournament is the priority… (We) want to be ready to go. But look, I can tell you this, I’ll be shocked if both of them are playing next week. I’ll tell you that much. But our plan is, how can we get as healthy as possible as ready as possible?”
Scheyer said his team will do the best they can moving forward. Duke is on an eight-game winning streak after defeating the Tar Heels.
“For two weeks from now, wherever we go, and we’re always gonna do our best. Be ready next week. But we’ve put ourselves in a position where we can do something special, make a run. We want to be in the best possible position to do that,” Scheyer added.
Ngongba has been out since early March. The center is averaging 10.7 points per game this season. Foster went down in the North Carolina game Saturday, after suffering what looked to be a foot injury.
Duke is led this season by true freshman Cameron Boozer. Boozer scored 26 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in the North Carolina win.
Duke basketball hopes to win the ACC Tournament
The Blue Devils have lost just two games this season. One was to North Carolina, in a close game in Chapel Hill. Duke's only other defeat all season was a non conference game against Texas Tech.
If Foster and Ngongba can't play in the ACC tournament, Duke will look to the Boozer twins for even more production. Cameron is the heart and soul of the team this season. He leads Duke in points, rebounds and assists. Cayden Boozer meanwhile is shooting 50 percent from the field.
The ACC conference tournament starts on Tuesday. Duke will play Thursday, against the winner of Wednesday's Florida State-California game.
