North Carolina and Duke are set to meet for the first time in 2023 on Saturday as they continue their historic rivalry. Both teams do have games before Saturday, but when they do meet in a few days it will be an electric atmosphere in Cameron Indoor Stadium as it always is.
But before we get to Saturday, there are some important injury updates for both sides. We already told you about R.J. Davis expecting to play on Wednesday against Pitt and now Duke is hoping a talented freshman is ready for UNC.
Dariq Whitehead did not play in Tuesday’s game against Wake Forest as he’s dealing with a leg injury. However, there’s a chance he could return on Saturday as he was seen participating in pregame warmups on Tuesday:
#Duke forward Dariq Whitehead is out here shooting around with the team during pregame.
Whitehead will not play tonight vs. Wake Forest but still has a chance to play this Saturday against rival UNC. pic.twitter.com/luuAcGCHOr
— Jordan (@JDavis34_) January 31, 2023
Duke does not think it’s a season-ending injury for Whitehead after he suffered the injury in the loss to Virginia Tech a week ago. Whitehead is making progress coming off the injury per Jon Scheyer:
“He had a really good day yesterday on the court,” Scheyer said about Whitehead, who sat out Saturday’s win at Georgia Tech after sustaining a strain in his left lower leg in last Monday’s loss at Virginia Tech. “But he’s not quite there yet…If he can’t practice, he’s not going to play, and we’ll make that determination here in a little bit.”
The freshman is averaging 8.4 points and 2.3 rebounds per game so far this season.
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