Duke’s Latest Injury News Opens the Door for Virginia To Win the ACC Title

Injuries are never ideal, but this one could play out in the Virginia Cavaliers' favor.

Virginia Cavaliers forward Thijs De Ridder | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The Virginia Cavaliers are entering the ACC Tournament as the No. 2 seed, trailing the Duke Blue Devils, who unsurprisingly secured the No. 1 seed.

Toward the end of February, the Hoos hit the road to face the Blue Devils in North Carolina, but they were ultimately handed a dreadful 77-51 loss. This put an end to their nine-game winning streak and eliminated their chances of climbing further up.

The Cavaliers wrapped up their regular season with two final wins over Wake Forest (75-70) and Virginia Tech (76-72), but their loss to Duke was undeniably a major hit to their confidence. However, the Blue Devils have now taken a hit of their own, which could play out in UVA's favor during the ACC Tournament.

Two Injuries Plagued the Blue Devils

Duke Blue Devils center Patrick Ngongba II | Zachary Taft-Imagn Images

As reported by Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, Duke's head coach Jon Scheyer announced that two of his players are now out of commission due to injuries—Caleb Foster and Patrick Ngongba. This is not the news the Blue Devils wanted to hear at this point in their campaign, while they're within arm's reach of winning the ACC.

Rothstein notes that Foster suffered a fractured foot and is "out for the foreseeable future," and Ngongba is "out for the ACC Tournament."

Jon Scheyer told reporters that Duke’s Caleb Foster has suffered a fractured foot and is OUT for the foreseeable future.

Patrick Ngongba is OUT for the ACC Tournament.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 10, 2026

These are two key players who provide a major boost for the program. During the regular season, Ngongba, a 6'11" sophomore, averaged 10.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.1 blocks per game, while shooting 60.2% from the floor. He ranks third in the program for points, following behind Isaiah Evans (14.5) and Cameron Boozer (22.7).

As for Foster, he's their starting point guard, so losing him is yet another significant hit to Scheyer's team. Throughout the regular season, he averaged 8.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game, shooting 44.2% from the floor.

As undesirable as injuries are for any player, not having to face Foster or Ngongba should give the Cavaliers a bit of a leg up in the ACC Tournament. Of course, the Blue Devils are expected to be their top competitor, so the Hoos should use this to their advantage on the court.

When the two programs last faced off in February, Ngongba was one of the leading scorers with 11 points. However, Evans and Boozer led with 19 and 18 points, respectively. Simply put, the Cavaliers are still going to be walking into an immense challenge, and they must clean up on both sides of the ball if they want to bring the ACC title home to Virginia.