The Duke basketball team is limping towards the finish line of the conference season and things will not get any easier for the Blue Devils on Saturday night in the ACC Tournament Championship against Louisville.
Maliq Brown, Duke’s standout backup center, will miss the title game after re-dislocating his shoulder in the Blue Devil quarterfinal victory against Georgia Tech and could be sidelined for the NCAA Tournament.
“We need to give it a couple days,” Jon Scheyer said about Brown’s injury after the 74-71 victory over North Carolina in the semifinals.
“We need to get back to campus and figure this thing out. Obviously, there's no expectation of him playing anytime soon.”
Scheyer said in his press conference on Thursday afternoon that Brown was stretchered out of the arena and taken to the hospital for further evaluation. He was on the Duke bench with his arm in a sling on Friday night.
However, the Blue Devils were able to get 25 points out of its freshmen centers Khaman Maluach and Patrick Ngongba on a combined 12-of-14 shooting.
Ngongba played well in place of Brown as he missed four games with his original shoulder dislocation but his career-high in points came at the perfect time for the Blue Devils and he could help fill the void left by the Syracuse transfer.
“The confidence 100 percent with Pat is there,” Scheyer said. “It's just a matter of the opportunity. So you don't want to see that happen with Maliq, but the progression that Pat has made the entire year, working on his body…extra stuff in the weight room, and he's really smart. Like really, really smart as a big guy.”
“To come through in that moment, just to be ready, he doesn't get shaken at all. He's got great poise.”
Duke also saw superstar Cooper Flagg sit in the semifinal victory with an ankle injury that he also suffered in the quarterfinals.
Tipoff between the Blue Devils and the Cardinals is slated for 8:30 p.m. ET (ESPN) in Charlotte.