Duke narrowly avoided a historic upset on Thursday against 16-seeded Siena, and the Blue Devils' performance made it obvious how badly they need sophomore center Patrick Ngongba to return to the lineup.
Ngongba has missed Duke's last five games, starting with the regular season finale against North Carolina, all three ACC Tournament games, and then the opening round game against Siena. With a tricky second-round matchup against 9-seed TCU awaiting Duke in Greensboro tomorrow, Jon Scheyer is singing an optimistic tune about his return.
"I'm hopeful he's going to be available for tomorrow," Scheyer said. "We'll see what he can do in practice today, and if all goes well... I know he was itching to play yesterday. Now, he hasn't done what he needs to do in order to play. But if everything goes well, we'll see him back in there."
Jon Scheyer is hopeful that Patrick Ngongba will return for Duke against TCU
The biggest issue in Ngongba's absence has been on the defensive end of the floor. The Blue Devils got gashed by Florida State in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals, and then allowed 43 first-half points against a mid-major in Thursday's March Madness opener.
Things got bad enough defensively that Scheyer had to swap to a zone defense to keep Siena from doing so much damage in the paint. Not having Ngongba to anchor the effort in the middle has turned the Blue Devils from arguably the best defense in college basketball to one that couldn't defend a 16-seed man-to-man.
Ngongba's absence has put a lot of pressure on Cameron Boozer at the five spot, and he'll welcome the return of his frontcourt running mate.
Along with his defensive ability, Ngongba has averaged 11 points and six rebounds per game 60% shooting from the floor.
Against a TCU team that is really good on the offensive glass, Ngongba's presence is sorely needed.