Duke basketball needed a bounceback effort on Tuesday night after ending their eight-game winning streak three nights earlier. Despite being without senior captain guard Jeremy Roach for most of the second half, the 12th-ranked Blue Devils (14-4, 5-2 ACC) tallied an 83-69 win at unranked Louisville (6-13, 1-7 ACC).
In the second half of Duke's 84-79 home victory over Georgia Tech on Jan. 13, Roach sustained a right knee injury that led to him sitting out the team's 80-76 loss to Pittsburgh on Saturday night, marking his first absence this season.
Roach returned to action against Louisville and drew a starting nod. However, with 5:25 to play in the first half, the 22-year-old and fourth-year Blue Devil starter turned his right ankle on a fastbreak layup attempt. Although he exited the game, he returned three minutes later and was on the court for the remainder of the half.
Then, Roach started the second half. His discomfort was immediately obvious, though, as he played only a little over a minute before second-year Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer took him out of the contest.
And he did not return. Instead, Roach watched from the end of the bench with an ice pack on his ankle.
He finished the night with 10 points, one rebound, and three assists while shooting 3-for-7 from the field, 2-for-4 from three, and 2-for-2 at the charity stripe across his 17 minutes on the floor.
Scheyer did not provide an update on Roach's status during his postgame presser, so there's no word yet on the extent of his injury or whether he'll be available for the Blue Devils' next outing.
That said, the following TikTok video from fellow Duke starting guard Jared McCain shows Jeremy Roach on crutches as he and the squad boarded their plane back to Durham:
NEXT GAME: at home versus unranked Clemson (13-5, 3-4 ACC), 4 p.m. ET Saturday (ESPN)
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