Bryce Down, But Apparently Not Out After Scare At Duke

Redshirt senior wing C.J. Bryce missed four games because of a concussion earlier this season. This time, though, he appears to have escaped serious injury after taking a shot to the head Monday

Rob Kinnan/USAToday sports

NC State's 88-69 setback at Duke on Monday was potentially not the most damaging loss the Wolfpack could have suffered on a forgettable night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

With just under three minutes remaining and State hopelessly behind, the Blue Devils added a little insult to injury -- or in this case, the other way around -- when C.J. Bryce took an errant elbow to the face as he was trying to stop the Tre Jones from scoring at the rim. 

The redshirt senior wing let out an audible expression of pain and fell to the floor with his hands over his face, staying there for more than a minute while coaches and trainers came to his aid.

It was a scary scene, considering that Bryce has already suffered one concussion this season and because the Wolfpack struggled in the four games its leading scorer missed in early January. But afterward, coach Kevin Keatts expressed optimism that on this occasion, Bryce appears to have escaped the worst.

"I think he just took an elbow. I think he’ll be fine," Keatts said at his postgame press conference. "I haven’t talked to the trainers. I think he was okay after the game. I think as he drove, (Jones') hand flipped and hit him."

Team spokesman Craig Hammel said Tuesday morning that Bryce is "fine" and isn't likely to suffer any long-term effect from the incident.

But because of State's history with concussions this season, Keatts said he plans to keep a close eye on his key player. In addition to Bryce, Manny Bates and Jericole Hellems have also suffered concussions of varying degrees.

":We’ve had three of them," Keatts said. "I’m always concerned about anytime a guy gets hit up here. I’m hopeful that he’s okay. I don’t have anything to say that he’s not."

The Wolfpack needs every able body it can get heading into Friday's regular season finale at home against Wake Forest, then into next week's ACC tournament in Greensboro.

At 18-12 overall and 9-10 in the ACC, State is precariously close to missing out on the NCAA tournament for the second straight season and can't afford to suffer any more bad losses on its resume.