The Duke basketball team rolled over Virginia on Monday night but it left Charlottsville with some major concern for one of its key players.
Maliq Brown, the backup center for the Blue Devils, contested a pass in the final minutes of the first half that resulted in a deflection. It’s something that he regularly does during a game and drew no contact from his opposition.
However, something went wrong in his shoulder as soon as he touched the basketball, grabbing his left shoulder in pain. The game was stopped immediately as he walked back to the locker room for further evaluation.
Duke quickly announced at the start of the second half that Brown would not return to the game as he eventually appeared on the Blue Devil bench in a sling. Following the 80-62 victory, Jon Scheyer said that it has been diagnosed as a dislocated shoulder but didn’t have any more information.
“He’s a big loss for us,” the Duke head coach stated.
Brown finished the game with two points, one rebound, and two assists in ten minutes while the Blue Devils outscored the Cavaliers by 13 points with him on the floor.
Freshman center Khaman Maluach had two points and four rebounds in 19 minutes while Patrick Ngongba II posted eight points and one rebound in 11 minutes.
Maliq Brown was in the midst of his sixth game back after missing three weeks with a toe injury and picked up right where he left off defensively, giving Duke an elite edge on that side of the floor.
There is no timetable for his return as Brown was expected to undergo further imaging on his shoulder Monday night.
No. 3 Duke (23-3, 15-1 ACC) returns to the court on Saturday night (8:00 p.m. ET, FOX) for its final non-conference game of the regular season against Illinois (17-9, 9-7 Big Ten) inside Madison Square Garden.
