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03/26 13:57 CDT Duke coach says Caleb Foster will try to make his March Madness
return against St. John's
Duke coach says Caleb Foster will try to make his March Madness return against
St. John's
By NOAH TRISTER
AP Sports Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) --- Duke coach Jon Scheyer said point guard Caleb Foster will
try to play in Friday night's Sweet 16 matchup against St. John's.
Foster broke his right foot in Duke's regular-season finale and missed the
first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament for the top-seeded Blue Devils. He was
on the court Thursday during the portion of practice open to reporters, but
that largely consisted of stretching and a bit of shooting. It was hard to tell
how mobile Foster might be.
"He had a good day of practice yesterday, doing a little bit. We have to see
how he feels today. Hopefully he progresses well enough tomorrow where, again,
it's not like there's a lot of practice time, but we have to make sure he's in
position before the game, more of a game-time decision," Scheyer said. "He's
going to give it everything he has to go tomorrow night."
Foster is averaging 8.5 points per game this season. He's made 30 starts.
"I just go back to when he got hurt, he told me, ?Look, if I do this and work
every day, you got to promise me you'll let me put this uniform on again with
our guys,'" Scheyer said. "He's in a position where he's going to try to do
that tomorrow night."
Duke's other main injury concern was big man Patrick Ngongba II. He missed the
ACC Tournament with a foot issue, but he played limited minutes in the second
round of the NCAAs against TCU, scoring four points.
"Pat responded well. You never know how that's going to go," Scheyer said.
"He's on track to play again tomorrow, which is a really big deal for us."
The 6-foot-11 Ngongba is averaging 10.5 points on the season.
The short-handed Blue Devils struggled in their NCAA Tournament opener against
Siena, and it took some time for them to pull away from TCU as well. Now they
take on a physical, battle-tested St. John's team coached by Rick Pitino.
"Hopefully the depth, Pat and Caleb again are in position, that can give us
also where there's not the pacing, there's just the effort in a game like this
you have to have every possession," Scheyer said. "It's harder to play longer
minutes. That's something for us that's going to be a key thing."
___
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and
coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
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