The Duke basketball team had no issue disposing of a very bad Miami (6-22, 2-15 Big East) squad on the road Tuesday night but that is an afterthought as the Blue Devils return to Durham.
Its blowout victory was expected. It was anticipated. And it delivered with a final score of 97-60.
But the story leaving South Florida for the No. 2 Blue Devils isn’t about elite shooting nights from freshmen Kon Knueppel or Isaiah Evans. It about something extraordinary Cooper Flagg did, it isn’t even about the pending hiring by the Hurricanes of Duke associate head coach Jai Lucas.
It’s all about the injury suffered to Tyrese Proctor late in the first half.
Proctor was retreating on defense after a missed shot and Miami guard Divine Ugochukwu was putting pressure on the Duke junior. He drove for a layup and there was very little contact between the two players before Proctor was hobbling right to the locker room.
Referees had to stop the game as Proctor never returned to the court with 36.7 seconds remaining in the half and it took a moment before anyone on the Duke bench realized where its captain went.
Duke officials quickly ruled Tyrese Proctor out for the remainder of the game with a knee injury and he never returned to the bench during the second half as Evans started in his place.
It’s the second injury a Duke player has suffered in as many weeks following Maliq Brown’s dislocated shoulder eight days prior in a victory against Virginia.
Proctor finished with seven points, two rebounds, two assists, and two steals in 14 minutes.
His teammates were blistering from the court for the second straight game after hanging 110 points on Illinois Saturday night inside Madison Square Garden. The Blue Devils connected on 56.1-percent of its attempts and 60.0-percent (15-of-25) from 3-point range.
Knueppel led the way with 20 points while Evans and Flagg each chipped in 16 points. Caleb Foster, who has scored in double figures in three of his last four games, added 10 points in 17 minutes – the most action he has seen in a game since January 14 against Miami.
The Blue Devils (25-3, 16-1 ACC) will have a quick turnaround, playing two games in three days, when hosting Florida State (16-12, 7-10 ACC) on Saturday evening (7:00 p.m. ET, ACC Network) before a Monday night showdown (7:00 p.m. ET, ESPN) against Wake Forest (19-8, 11-5 ACC).