As Duke basketball preps for Louisville, Mark Mitchell, Jeremy Roach inch closer to playing

After No. 7 Duke played, and lost, without two injured starters Saturday night against Pittsburgh, the Blue Devils are hopeful both are ready to take important steps toward returning. Duke coach Jon Scheyer said Monday morning there’s a chance Jeremy Roach and Mark Mitchell will return to practice later in the day ahead of the Blue Devils’ Tuesday night ACC game at Louisville. “We’re hopeful they can try to practice today, which would be the first practice that they would have,” Scheyer said. “Again, we look at Tuesday night as more of a game-time decision. You have to be able to play 5-on-5. You have to be able to practice. They haven’t been able to do that yet.”

Neither Roach nor Mitchell were in uniform on Saturday night when Pitt beat the Blue Devils, 80-76 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Scheyer said they are progressing, though. “They’ve taken good steps,” Scheyer said Monday morning. “Like I mentioned after the game, I thought in the days leading up, they took some good steps but couldn’t quite get over the hurdle. Yesterday, they had some good individual work. And today will be a big test to see how they can practice.” It marked the second consecutive game the 6-9 Mitchell has missed for the Blue Devils (13-4,4-2 ACC). The sprained knee he suffered earlier this month caused him to sit out Duke’s 84-79 win over Georgia Tech on Jan. 13 at Cameron.

During the second half of that game, Roach suffered a knee injury when he appeared to bang his knee with another player. He limped to the bench at the 8:21 mark of the second half. After returning to play 59 seconds, he left the game again and did not return. Scheyer said last week that neither injury is considered a long-term concern. He said both players were “day-to-day,” allowing that “day-to-day means different things.”