The Duke Blue Devils are still the team to beat in college basketball, though that appeared to be in danger earlier this week when their star player and presumptive #1 NBA draft pick Zion Williamson went down early in a blowout loss to North Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Duke got some good news after the game, however, when it was reported that Williamson had avoided any type of serious injury and had only a Grade 1 sprain. He’s listed as ‘day-to-day’ but will definitely miss Saturday night’s game against Syracuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Williamson slipped early in last week’s blowout loss to North Carolina when he tried to plant his left foot near the free throw line. His left Nike shoe essentially disintegrated and caused him to fall awkwardly. He limped off the court and didn’t return. The Blue Devils appeared shell shocked as their arch rivals dismantled them the rest of the way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski says that he’s optimistic that Williamson will return soon at 100% capacity<\/a>: <\/p>\n\n\n\n “The preliminary reports that we have on Zion’s injury are all optimistic — very, very good. And the fact that it’s a stable condition, a mild sprain, and we’re going to do what everyone would do, and that’s what’s in the best interest of the young man. And Zion will get proper care.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n “… There’s no rush. You want to make sure he’s completely at 100 percent.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Duke enters Saturday’s game at Syracuse with a record of 23-3. Williamson is averaging 21.6 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game. The latest NCAA basketball futures odds<\/a> show Duke remains a +200 favorite to win the championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Duke Blue Devils are still the team to beat in college basketball, though that appeared to be in danger…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":5154,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[135],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ncaab"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
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