Sunday was a joyful day for the Duke basketball program, but it was almost costly.
Despite the 38-point victory over James Madison in the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament, the Blue Devils -- already thin in the backcourt -- suffered two injuries that looked to be serious in the moment.
Senior guard Jeremy Roach was the first player to get injured early in the first half when he swiped down at the ball on defense and immediately held his hand away from his body and made his way towards the Duke bench.
The captain was in a tremendous amount of pain as trainers tended to him. The injury was diagnosed as a dislocated pinkie finger that, after some time, was able to be put back into place and taped with his ring finger, allowing Roach to return to the court.
Jeremy Roach would finish with 15 points and six assists on 5-of-8 shooting, playing 34 minutes.
Jon Scheyer said after the game that Roach would undergo an X-Ray, but all seems fine as he was practicing with the team on Tuesday, albeit with his fingers still taped together.
Love to put in that late March work at the crib
— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) March 26, 2024
🗣️ @JonScheyer pic.twitter.com/5W1mOqrAk4
Jaylen Blakes suffered what was the scariest looking injury as he was flipped over on a dunk attempt in the second half, slamming his body against the ground.
The Barclays Center, sounding jubilant as the Blue Devils were pulling away, went silent. After a short time on the court, Blakes was helped back to the Duke locker room.
Somehow, he only spent a few minutes behind closed doors and ran out of the tunnel and rejoined the team on the bench for the final minutes. He did not reenter the game and Scheyer said the team needed to get him "examined" when it returned to Durham.
The examination was positive for the Blue Devils because he, too, was practicing on Tuesday and appears on track to play against Houston in the Sweet 16.
Jared McCain, who scored 30 points in the victory, had a large bag of ice wrapped around his left thigh as he walked off the floor, but already said his injury was nothing to worry about.
Duke is already without freshman guard for Caleb Foster for the remainder of the NCAA Tournament after suffering a stress fracture in his ankle. Any limitations on the healthy Blue Devil guards would make an already difficult matchup against the guard-dominant Cougars even more brutal.
Nevertheless, the Blue Devils will be ready to take the court in Dallas on Friday night (9:39 p.m. ET, CBS).