While he was listed as questionable coming into the game, it seemed inevitable that after Duke's near-miss against Siena, sophomore center Patrick Ngongba would make his return for the second round against TCU.
And while Ngongba was on a minutes restriction and came off the bench, the big man made a big impact in his 13 minutes.
His counting stats - 4 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists - might not show it, but the advanced numbers do. Ngongba was a staggering +20 in his 13 minutes in a 23-point win for the Blue Devils.
"He's the first player to ever come into a game off a scooter and have +20 in the plus minus," Jon Scheyer said after the game.
Patrick Ngongba led Duke in plus-minus in 2nd round win over TCU
Ngongba changes the calculus for Duke. Without him, the Blue Devils looked downright vulnerable and narrowly escaped a historic upset loss in the first round to 16-seeded Siena.
With Ngongba, even in a limited role, Duke looked downright terrifying again. It looked like the team that ran through the regular season with only two losses and entered the NCAA Tournament as the unquestioned No. 1 team in college basketball.
The big-to-big passing between Ngongba and Cameron Boozer is difficult to defend. Ngongba got Boozer going early in the second half with an alley-oop dunk that sparked the freshman sensation's big second half.
And now the star big man will get several more days of rest and recovery before Duke enters the second weekend of the tournament with a Sweet 16 matchup against the winner of Sunday's Kansas/St. John's matchup.
With a few more days of rest, Ngongba should be ready for a bigger workload next week. He was right back on a scooter and walking boot after the game, but just to get him off that injured foot as quickly as possible.
The fact that Ngongba was that impactful on Saturday afternoon without much practice time should be terrifying for future Duke opponents as he gets healthier and healthier throughout this March Madness run.