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Duke responds to beat Winthrop, but loses Cassius Stanley to knee injury

By Kevin Connelly

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 29: Cassius Stanley #2 of the Duke Blue Devils is helped off the court by teammates after an injury to his leg against the Winthrop Eagles at Cameron Indoor Stadium on November 29, 2019 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Bob Leverone/Getty Images)
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 29: Cassius Stanley #2 of the Duke Blue Devils is helped off the court by teammates after an injury to his leg against the Winthrop Eagles at Cameron Indoor Stadium on November 29, 2019 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Bob Leverone/Getty Images) /
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The Duke Basketball team was able to defeat the Winthrop Eagles on Friday night, but the Blue Devils lost freshman Cassius Stanley to a knee injury.

When it rains it pours for the Duke Basketball team as the Blue Devils responded to its loss to Stephen F. Austin on Tuesday defeat the Winthrop Eagles on Friday night, but it came with consequences.

In the victory, Duke lost freshman Cassius Stanley to a knee injury after landing awkwardly on a failed dunk/layup attempt. The team said Stanley would not return to the game because of a knee injury, but Mike Krzyzewski said in his postgame press conference that it is a hamstring injury for Cassius Stanley.

To that point in the game, Stanley had four points and three rebounds on 2-of-7 shooting.

Duke led Winthrop 46-39 at the time of the injury and the Los Angeles native left the game with 18:25 remaining in the second half.

Despite the injury, Duke was able to hold on for a 83-70 victory.

The Blue Devils were led by Matthew Hurt, Vernon Carey Jr., Joey Baker, and Tre Jones.

It was the coming out party for Hurt and Baker who combined for 36 points on 13-of-20 shooting, and more importantly 6-of-9 from 3-point range.

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Individually, Hurt had 20 points and eight rebounds on 7-of-13 shooting, 2-of-4 from the 3-point line, and 4-of-6 from the free throw line.

Baker was unconscious with 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting and 4-of-5 from 3-point range.

Carey Jr. notched his sixth straight double-double with 17 points and ten rebounds on 5-of-10 for the field and improved on his free throw shooting, making 7-of-10 from the charity stripe.

The sophomore guard in Tre Jones struggled in the first half but found his rhythm in the second half ending the night with 15 points, five rebounds, six assists, and three steals, but did turn the ball over five times.

In the absence of Stanley, it was not just Baker that stepped up but it was Jordan Goldwire who pressured the ball on defense, creating five steals in addition to his six points, one rebound, one assist, and two blocks.

As a team, Duke shot 52.6% from the field, 58.3% from 3-point range, and 72.7% from the free throw line, but the biggest story that will emerge from the end of this game is the health of Cassius Stanley.

If Stanley is sidelines for the foreseeable future it will be a big loss as Duke arguably has its toughest week of the regular season coming up with a trip to East Lansing to face the Michigan State Spartans on Tuesday night and then a visit to Blacksburg to face the Virginia Tech Hokies, who upset the Spartans this week.

Duke will lose its No. 1 ranking come Monday afternoon but the Blue Devils are 7-1 on the season and will tipoff with Michigan State at 9:15pm EST on Tuesday night on ESPN.

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