Duke basketball finally makes its long-awaited return to the court on Tuesday night.
It’s been far too long, 13 days to be exact, since the Duke basketball team has taken the floor for a basketball game, but that comes to an end on Tuesday night in Durham.
The No. 20 Blue Devils (3-2, 1-0 ACC) have returned from the holiday break and will continue their stretch of ACC games as the Pittsburgh Panthers travel (5-2, 1-1 ACC) to Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Duke is coming off of its most complete game of the season in a victory over Notre Dame in South Bend, and the Blue Devils did it without freshman star Jalen Johnson, who will also miss Tuesday’s game against the Panthers.
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Johnson remains out indefinitely with a foot injury but will be undergoing another MRI in the coming days to determine the full extent and recovery time of the ailment.
However, it was sophomore Matthew Hurt and freshman DJ Steward who paced the way for the Blue Devils in their most recent victory.
Given the oddities of the 2020-21 college basketball season, Duke has already lost two games at home this season, and Mike Krzyzewski‘s team has not won a game in Cameron Indoor Stadium since December 4 against Bellarmine.
Injuries the storyline of next Duke basketball game
As already mentioned, the Blue Devils will be without freshman star Jalen Johnson, but that isn’t the biggest injury of Tuesday’s matchup as the Panthers will be without sophomore star Justin Champagnie.
Champagnie will miss the next six to eight weeks after suffering a knee injury in practice last week. He was averaging 17.8 points and 12.3 rebounds per game.
Guard Au’Diese Toney, who averages 16.2 points and 5.0 rebounds, also suffered a right ankle injury in practice last week and has been considered day-to-day.
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Former Duke player and associate head coach Jeff Capel, who is the head coach of the Panthers, has also been sidelined with a positive COVID-19 test but will coach against Duke on Tuesday.
Capel said on Monday afternoon that he was close to being hospitalized with the virus and that Au’Diese Toney is expected to play against the Blue Devils, barring any setbacks.
Tipoff is scheduled for 8:00pm EST (ACC Network), and here are three things to watch for as the Blue Devils close out the 2020 calendar year.