Duke Loses 2 Players Before ACC Tournament

No. 1 Duke appears to be in good shape before the ACC Tournament.

With a 29-2 overall record and a 17-1 record in the ACC, the Blue Devils have the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament. With a string of wins this week, they're in position for the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

All eyes will be on be on star freshman Cameron Boozer. The forward averages 22.7 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. That's a team-high average for all three categories.

The Blue Devils will next play in the quarterfinal round of the ACC Tournament on Thursday night, but the opponent is unknown at this time.

Per the Associated Press and ESPN, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer revealed starting point guard Caleb Foster suffered a broken right foot that will keep him out for an "extended period." 

Center Patrick Ngongba II will not play in the ACC Tournament because of a foot injury.

Foster suffered the injury in Saturday's 76-61 win over No. 19 North Carolina. He had surgery, and Scheyer hopes he can return at some point this postseason.

"In his mind and our mind, we'll do everything we possibly can with our mindset to continue to advance where we can give him a shot to come back when it's all said and done," Scheyer said.

Scheyer suggested Duke would have to make the Final Four for Foster to return again.

"I think the reality of it is, we'd have to advance to a Final Four," Scheyer said. "Is there a chance earlier? I'm not going to eliminate that right now.

"But I think that's really difficult to try to even imagine that scenario. We're not going to have him the next couple of weeks, the next few weeks."

Foster averages 8.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. Ngongba averages 10.7 rebounds, 6.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game.

Those losses will hurt a Duke team that was expected to have an easy path to make it to the ACC championship.

Without Foster, the Blue Devils have a tough path to make it to the Final Four.