UConn’s Silas Demary Jr. Details Injury Prep Before Elite Eight
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The UConn Huskies punched their ticket to the Elite Eight with a 67-63 win over Michigan State. The Huskies had a 25-6 opening burst and a 22-2 run to control the game. Tarris Reed Jr. led with 20 points, Alex Karaban added 17 with seven rebounds, and clutch free throws helped the Huskies enter their 14th Elite Eight.
With that, the Huskies are 32-5 overall. The biggest question the Huskies face entering the Elite Eight game against Duke is, how far can this team go if one of its best guards is not in his best form?
With Silas Demary Jr. dealing with an ankle injury, Malachi Smith has stepped in. In his last outing, Smith, in just seventeen minutes of floor time, racked up seven assists and four steals. Clearly, Smith possesses the skills, though his production hasn't quite matched Demary's.
Demary has been playing through a Grade 2 high ankle sprain, with calf and Achilles issues. After missing the Furman game, he returned but has scored just two points and three rebounds in each of his last two outings. He played 21 minutes off the bench against UCLA and started against Michigan State.
Still, there is no denying that he is key, as in the UCLA game, when the Huskies managed to score 22 points when he was on the court. That’s why all eyes are now on how Demary is managing the injury ahead of the Elite Eight. In fact, Demary has himself revealed his status and broken down what he is doing ahead of the Duke game.
“My game day routine to prepare is to wake up, eat some breakfast, and then get right to treatment. That’s like Compex, doing a lot of stuff on the BOSU ball, Game Ready, massage boots, it's a mix of all that. Then I get here a little early, jump on the BOSU ball again, do some stretching, taping, and just try to run around to stay as warm as possible. So it’s really just doing a bunch of those things throughout the course of the day and using an orange band, doing little gas pumps to keep my ankle warm,” said Demary.
Demary is averaging 10.4 points per game this season while leading the Big East with 6.1 assists. He is anchoring the offense and a top-10 defense that has held NCAA tournament opponents to 60.0 points per game while shooting under 40%.
Much like the Huskies, Duke Faces Major Injury Concerns
Duke’s guard Caleb Foster, much like Demary, has been dealing with an injury. However, Foster returned in the Sweet 16 game after a foot fracture that required surgery three weeks ago. He made 11 second-half points off the bench to drive his team to a win over St.John’s.
Despite his return, Duke has leaned on freshman Cayden Boozer as a starter in recent games, creating a layered guard rotation heading into the Huskies game. Duke enters the game with a 35-2 record and is ranked No. 1 in NET.
The team has great players like Cameron Boozer, who is averaging 22.4 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. There are also players like Isaiah Evans, who added 15.2 points and scored 25 in the Sweet 16 game against St.John’s.
Duke enters the Huskies’ matchup after taking down Siena, TCU and St. John’s. Now, historically, the Huskies and Duke have combined for 11 national titles and split recent postseason meetings, with UConn winning the last clash in the 2004 Final Four. Duke holds a 6-4 all-time edge. However, this is the first time the two teams have met since their 2014 meeting.
-fd44250df32912986cc6690f0b8bfa32.png "Shivani Menon")
Shivani Menon is a sports journalist with a background in Mass Communication and a passion for storytelling. She has written for EssentiallySports, College Sports Network, and PFSN, covering Olympic sports like track and field, gymnastics, and alpine skiing, as well as college football, basketball, March Madness, and the NBL Draft. When she's not reporting, she's either on the road chasing sunsets or getting lost in the rhythms of electronic soundscapes.