Duke star Tyrese Proctor entered the game against the Miami Hurricanes on the verge of reaching 1,000 career points and he managed the feat in the first half before being sidelined with a left knee injury. Proctor left the game after the injury and did not return. He tallied 7 points, 2 rebounds and 2.0 assists in the 97-60 Blue Devils win.
Proctor was replaced by freshman Isaiah 'Slim' Evans in the second half of the game as the Blue Devils cruised to the blowout win in Coral Gables to strengthen their overall record to (25-3, 16-1 ACC).
The veteran guard left the venue in crutches and during his postgame news conference, Duke coach Jon Scheyer gave an update on Proctor's injury.
"He's tough. He got hit on the leg and we gotta get some imaging, but we'll go from there," Scheyer said. "We have to find out what's going on first before we can know. I know he didn’t want to get it in this fashion. We have to get him back, get X-rays, MRI. He got hit in the leg. That’s the extent of what I know. We’ll get him looked at and taken care of.”
College football fans on X had mixed reactions to Tyrese Proctor's injury.
"Run me over with that bus," one fan said.
"Appeared to be a hyperextension but whatever the case let’s pray for a speedy recovery for ‘Rese & Maliq!," another fan added.
Duke fans were devastated by Tyrese Proctor's injury.
"Welcome to heartbreak," one fan tweeted.
"Done with this sport," another fan tweeted.
"Not good," one fan tweeted.
Tyrese Proctor's injuries from last season have made him better player
Tyrese Proctor is an important cog in the Duke Blue Devils' machine and is the team's third-highest scorer, just behind star Cooper Flagg (19.4 points) and Kon Knueppel (13.5 points). Proctor is averaging 12.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists and has hit a team-high 64 3-pointers.
Proctor has played in all 28 Duke games this season but he missed three games last season due to a persistent ankle injury and one game due to a concussion. His latest injury adds to the Blue Devils' injury concerns after Maliq Brown dislocated his shoulder in Duke's win over Virginia last week.
In an interview with Fox Sports two weeks ago, Proctor revealed how his injuries from last season have made him a better player this season.
“I had never been injured before in my career,” Tyrese Proctor said. “So that was definitely a turning point for me. Just being out for that long. I hadn’t been out for that long ever. So just seeing the game in a different perspective and attacking my rehab every day and trying to stay positive.
"Getting back on the floor as quickly as possible and then obviously coming back but not to the level that I knew I could have been at, but still just trying to do everything I could to help the team win. I think that was definitely a big turning point and something that sort of gave me that motivation going into this offseason.”
Tyrese Proctor's injury has come at the worst time for the Duke Blue Devils with March Madness just around the corner. Jon Scheyer's team is being projected as a possible one-seed by bracketologists after a stellar run this season.
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