Duke entered Tuesday night coming off their second loss of the season. On Saturday, it was a 71-68 loss for Duke to North Carolina, as they fell on a last-second three by Seth Trimble. The Blue Devils needed a bounce-back game on Tuesday night, and got just that, defeating Pitt 70-54.
While they got the win, Duke was missing a key player, who was injured in the game with UNC, but head coach Jon Scheyer gave positive injury news on his big man prior to the Pittsburgh game, per Anna Snyder of USA Today.
“He's doing better,” Scheyer said of big man Patrick Ngongba II. “He had an injury during the North Carolina game. He's really tough, he played through it. The next morning his wrist was really sore.The good news is we got the imaging and all that. Everything is intact and he's okay, but there's some stuff going on there with some soreness and we got to get him right and healthy.”
Ngongba was not amazing in the game with UNC, playing just 16 minutes with four points, seven rebounds, an assist, and a steal. He has been a solid contributor for Duke this season. Ngongba is third on the team with 10,7 points per game, while also sitting second with 6.2 rebounds per game. Furthermore, he adds two assists and 1.3 blocks per game this year.
Maliq Brown took Ngongba's spot in the starting lineup. Brown has just two points, three rebounds, an assist, and two steals. Still, others stepped up. Cameron Boozer finished with 17 points and ten boards, while Isaiah Evans had 21 points. Further, Caleb Foster came away with 14 points and eight rebounds.
After the game, Scheyer gave more of an update on his big man, per Riley Gates of On3.
“I wish I knew (if he was able to play against Clemson),” Scheyer said. “You know, he’s — he got hurt in the Carolina game, he fell on his wrist. Very — we were holding out hope, you know, can he play today? I think that was incredibly unrealistic. He wasn’t close to being ready. Pat’s really tough. Pat’s dealt with a lot of different, like, just — not major things this year, but just, you know, where he gets — he got hit on his other hand and he’s had stuff that, I mean, for him to be out, I mean, it’s something. And we have to see how he does the next couple days, to see if there’s even a chance, and go from there. But it’s hard to say.”
Duke is now 22-2 on the season and 11-1 in conference play. They have a big game on Saturday, as Duke hosts Clemson. Clemson is second in the ACC currently, so Duke is hoping to have Ngongba back in the lineup.
