The Blue Devils make a trip to friendly territory for their NCAA tournament opener Friday evening, taking on No. 13-seed Vermont in the first round at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Here are five things to know about Duke’s path through the first weekend:
Freshman guard Caleb Foster has been out since Duke’s Feb. 24 defeat against Wake Forest with a lower body injury. He was still in a boot in the Blue Devils’ ACC tournament defeat against N.C. State, and there are currently no updates on a timetable for a potential return. His availability is a key for Duke if it wants to make a deep postseason run.
Nevertheless, his absence has been clearly missed, mostly because the team has not replaced him with another guard off the bench. Foster’s ability to control the pace of the game and drive to the basket makes him a useful asset in March when teams need multiple reliable ball handlers down the stretch. Plus, he can give the backcourt trio of Tyrese Proctor, Jared McCain and Jeremy Roach some valuable rest.
Head coach Jon Scheyer has opted to replace Foster’s minutes with freshman forwards TJ Power and Sean Stewart. While both have shown flashes of their immense potential, their inability to play consistently has hurt the Blue Devils in the latter stretch of the season. Duke had zero bench points against the Wolfpack, and outside of a late flurry by Power, had only two in a home loss to North Carolina.
