Duke basketball's Caleb Foster hasn't played since sustaining a right lower leg injury during the second half of the Blue Devils' infamous court-stormed loss at Wake Forest two weeks ago. And the five-star freshman will be sidelined once again when Jon Scheyer's bunch hosts its UNC basketball archrivals at 6:30 p.m. ET Saturday (ESPN).
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"He can't go [on Saturday night]," Scheyer explained to the media about Foster's status on Thursday as his No. 9 Blue Devils (24-6, 15-4 ACC) look to tie the season series with UNC and send the No. 7 Tar Heels (24-6, 16-3) back to Chapel Hill with only a share of the conference's regular-season title.
"[He's] not there yet. And I wish I had a more complete answer other than he can't go [against UNC] and he's not even able to practice or anything yet."
Foster played 19 minutes off the bench in Duke's 93-84 loss at UNC on Feb. 3, fouling out of the contest after tallying five points, two rebounds, one assist, and one steal.
Although he's not one of the Blue Devils' premier weapons — the squad's sixth-highest scorer at 7.7 points per outing — he's knocked down over 40 percent of his 3-point attempts this season and has been an admirable fill-in starter for a group that has experienced its fair share of injuries.
Plus, it's worth noting that Caleb Foster led Duke with his 18 points and 4-for-5 clip beyond the arc in a primetime victory over Michigan State in November.
In other words, his absence gives the Tar Heels one less potential X factor to worry about in Cameron Indoor Stadium. That said, the Blue Devils are riding a three-game winning streak without him.
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