Photo credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports
Injured Duke Basketball Guard Now Out for 'Some Time'
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Entering Wednesday night's 84-59 home win over unranked Louisville (8-20, 3-14 ACC), Duke basketball freshman guard Caleb Foster was one of four who had played in every game for the No. 10 Blue Devils (22-6, 13-4 ACC) this season.
Now, that list is down to three: graduate center Ryan Young, sophomore forward Kyle Filipowski, and freshman guard Jared McCain.
Foster, averaging 7.7 points in a sixth-man role and as a fill-in starter when sophomore guard Tyrese Proctor and senior guard Jeremy Roach have dealt with injuries and recoveries of their own, sustained a right "lower leg injury" in Saturday's loss at Wake Forest. He checked out at the first TV timeout of the second half and did not return.
And on Wednesday night, Foster was wearing a protective boot while sitting on the Blue Devils' bench, using a bariatric knee scooter to get from the court to the locker room afterward.
Due to the former five-star recruit's first absence, which the Duke basketball social media team announced in the hour before tipoff, Jon Scheyer employed fewer of the Blue Devils' signature three-guard lineups, of course. He called on freshman forwards Sean Stewart and TJ Power a bit more often than usual.
In his postgame presser, the second-year head coach explained to the media that he'll have to continue devising ways for his just-starting-to-click squad to survive without Foster, at least for the time being:
"Unfortunately for us, it's just we have to adjust without Caleb. And you know, my heart breaks for him that he couldn't play today. Like, he's had such a good year, and he impacts winning in so many ways besides just the box score, just the stats.
"And we're going to be without him for some time. I don't know what that time is, but we have to adjust. We have to step up, just like we've had to do throughout the year with different injuries, whether it be Jeremy or [sophomore forward Mark Mitchell] or Tyrese.
"We looked at some different lineups. We went bigger. TJ and Sean, getting them more minutes was a really good thing for us tonight.
"We need to move on quickly and get ready for a really tough game on Saturday. But I'm proud of the team responding from Saturday to get this win."
NEXT DUKE BASKETBALL GAME: at home versus unranked Virginia (21-8, 12-6 ACC), 6 p.m. ET Saturday (ESPN)
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