Jon Scheyer gives updates on Tyrese Proctor’s knee injury status

Duke basketball (25-3, 16-1 ACC) took down the Miami Hurricanes handily in Coral Gables last night 97-60, but it wasn’t all smiles as junior starting guard Tyrese Proctor left the game at the end of the first half after sustaining a non-contact knee injury. Proctor did not return to the game and was later seen exiting in crutches.

The injury happened after Miami went into a fast break and Proctor went up to contest a shot in transition, landing awkwardly on his knee and immediately going to the floor and grabbing it in pain.

It is unsure at the moment of the severity of the injury, but non-contact knee injuries like that that result from an awkward fall are always extremely scary.

Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer gave some insight into Proctor’s injury status during his postgame press conference after the victory over the Hurricanes.

“He’s tough,” Scheyer said. “He got hit on the leg, we’ve got to get him some imaging and we’ll go from there.”

Hopefully this situation was just some knee-to-knee contact from Proctor and Miami’s Divine Ugochukwu, the Canes player who led the fast break and whose shot Proctor contested, and not a result of an awkward fall.

Proctor is in the midst of his best offensive season in a Blue Devil uniform, averaging career-highs in points (12.0), field goal percentage (43.8), and three-point shooting percentage (40.9). He’s also the leader of this Blue Devils backcourt alongside Sion James, and the duo has transformed into one of the best guard tandems in college basketball this season.

Duke has already lost Maliq Brown for extended time after the defensive superstar dislocated his shoulder during the Blue Devils’ 80-62 road victory over Virginia last Monday night.

Freshman Isaiah Evans will likely be put in the starting lineup in place of Proctor during his absence, making the rotation much younger down the stretch as the Blue Devils chase ACC and national championship aspirations.

Sophomore guard Caleb Foster, who’s essentially fizzled out of the rotation as the season has progressed, will likely see his minutes increase again as the lone other veteran guard who’s playing significant minutes this season.

Next up for Duke is a matchup against Florida State (16-12, 7-10 ACC) at Cameron Indoor Stadium on March 1st (7:00pm ET, ACC Network).