Duke guard Tyrese Proctor diagnosed with bone bruise and Blue Devils expect him back this season

Duke guard Tyrese Proctor has been diagnosed with a bone bruise in his left knee and will miss an undisclosed amount of time, Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer said on his radio show Wednesday night.

That's the bad news. The good news: “We're going to get him back, which is the most important part,” Scheyer said.

Proctor was hurt late in the first half of second-ranked Duke's 97-60 win at Miami on Tuesday night. Imaging performed on Wednesday all came back clean and showed no structural damage, Scheyer said.

“Basically, it’s about his pain tolerance and it’s about his movement and strengthening,” Scheyer said. “We’ll be very cautious with him and smart. I don’t want to give an exact timetable because it depends on how we can get him moving over the next days, weeks, however long it takes.

Duke (25-3, 16-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) has three league games left to play (Saturday at home against Florida State, Monday at home against Wake Forest, March 8 at North Carolina), then would open ACC Tournament play with a quarterfinal game on March 13, with the potential of tourney games the next two days.

The Blue Devils — a likely No. 1 seed and national title contender — would then open NCAA Tournament play on either March 20 or March 21.

Proctor was going backward in an effort to defend against a Miami fast break when his left leg appeared to buckle when he planted his foot. His knee came up and Proctor, in obvious discomfort, hobbled off the court and into a nearby tunnel with 36.3 seconds left in the half.

He did not return to the game, finishing with seven points in 14 minutes.

Proctor has started 87 games for Duke over three seasons, all under Scheyer. He’s averaging 11.8 points this season, third-best on the team behind Cooper Flagg (19.4) and Kon Knueppel (13.5), and he leads the Blue Devils with 64 3-pointers.

“He's the guy that's been through it all,” Scheyer said. “And vice versa. I've been right there with him. ... Look, he's had way more ups than downs. As a player, he's 79-21. He's been a key guy for us since the get-go.”

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