Duke Basketball: Zion Williamson will not play Saturday against Syracuse
After sustaining a knee injury on Wednesday night, the Duke Basketball star Zion Williamson will not play on Saturday against the Syracuse Orange.
According to Stadium’s Jeff Goodman, Zion Williamson will not suit up and be on the court Saturday night when the No. 1 Duke Blue Devils hit the road to play the Syracuse Orange.
Williamson was injured in the first 33 seconds of Duke’s game against North Carolina on Wednesday night after driving to the free throw line and stopping quickly with his foot coming through his shoe.
Duke’s Zion Williamson will not play tomorrow at Syracuse, source told @Stadium. Suffered knee injury against North Carolina and is listed as day-to-day with a Grade 1 knee sprain.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) February 22, 2019
Duke announced on Thursday that Williamson suffered a Grade 1 right knee sprain and is progressing “as expected. The release officially listed Zion as “day to day”.
Syracuse defeated Duke in the first matchup back in January 95-91 in overtime. Williamson finished with 35 points, 10 rebounds, and four blocks in the loss but the Blue Devils were without Cam Reddish (illness) and lost Tre Jones (shoulder) in the opening minutes of the game.
This will now be the second time the Orange has faced the Blue Devils not at full strength.
The two teams are scheduled to play at 6:00 pm ET on Saturday from the Carrier Dome and can be seen on ESPN.
On the season, Williamson is averaging 21.6 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 2.2 steals, and 1.8 blocks per game and is the front runner for the National Player of the Year Award.
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With Williamson reportedly out against Syracuse, the next possible game that Zion could be on the floor is on Tuesday, February 26, when Duke is on the road once again as the Blue Devils are in Blacksburg to face the Virginia Tech Hokies.
Duke will certainly be extra caution regarding the health of Zion Williamson as Mike Krzyzewski knows that he needs a healthy Zion heading into the ACC Tournament, but more specifically the NCAA Tournament.
Stay tuned to Ball Durham on Twitter, @Ball_Durham, and here at our website, balldurham.com, for complete coverage of the Duke Blue Devils vs. the Syracuse Orange.