After the loss to North Carolina, the Duke Basketball team was handed good news and bad news regarding two of its starting players.
Already down Zion Williamson, it took three minutes into Saturday’s loss to North Carolina for the Blue Devils to lose another big man.
After a chase down block on Garrison Brooks, Marques Bolden and Brooks got tangled up in the air and Bolden’s leg hit hard into the stanchion and he stayed down for quite a bit of time on the court.
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Bolden was helped to the Duke locker room by Antonio Vrankovic and Justin Robinson, and did not return to the game.
After halftime Bolden would return to the Duke bench under his own power and also returning to the locker room after the game with no assistance, but he did have a noticeable limp and was moving gingerly.
After the game head coach Mike Krzyzewski said that the initial diagnosis on Bolden was a MCL sprain, but he did not know the severity of the sprain.
It still remains unknown how long Bolden will be out, but he was in the midst of his best season in Durham, averaging 5.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game.
Marques Bolden had sometimes been on a rotation in the starting lineup with Javin DeLaurier, but Coach K seemed firm on sticking with Bolden for the remainder of the season.
Recovery time for an MCL sprain all depends on the severity of the injury and a return to the court can be in as little as a few days or as many as six weeks.
On the other hand, Coach K gave an update on Zion Williamson after the game Saturday saying that Zion’s non-contact practices have been great and now he will go through contact practices starting on Monday and should play in the ACC Tournament starting on Thursday night.
Williamson suffered his Grade 1 knee sprain in the opening seconds of the first matchup with North Carolina on February 20 and has yet to return to the floor.
The favorite for the National Player of the Year is averaging 21.6 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 2.2 steals, and 1.8 blocks per game.
The opponent is still unknown, but the Blue Devils will be playing either Syracuse, Pittsburgh, or Boston College in the Quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament on Thursday night at approximately 9:30pm ET on ESPN from the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.