Duke stunned by loss of its star
Duke might have to figure out what the Zion Show will look like without its namesake.
Zion Williamson, arguably the most exciting player in college basketball, suffered a freak injury in the opening minute of the sport’s fiercest rivalry, one that helped turn a widely anticipated matchup into a blowout.
As his shoe blew out, Williamson sprained his right knee on the first possession of what became top-ranked Duke’s 88-72 loss to No. 8 North Carolina on Wednesday night.
In the aftermath of that loss, coach Mike Krzyzewski wasn’t ready to look ahead. He was still trying to process just how quickly everything deflated after the injury.
“I’d rather not talk about what we’re going to do,” Krzyzewski said. “I’d rather talk about what just happened. Because we’re going to figure out what we’re going to do. So I don’t have that answer.”
Williamson is “dayto-day” with a mild right knee sprain and is progressing as expected, team spokesman Mike Degeorge said Thursday night.
Krzyzewski doesn’t have much time to find a replacement for the Atlantic Coast Conference’s secondleading scorer and its most dynamic playmaker.
The Blue Devils (23-3, 11-2) play Saturday night at Syracuse, which already knows how to beat a Duke team after it loses a key freshman to injury. The Orange beat No. 1 Duke last month in overtime after point guard Tre Jones injured a shoulder.
Williamson averages 22.4 points, but his impact goes well beyond scoring. He also grabs 9.2 rebounds and has blocked nearly two shots per game.
In his absence, North Carolina dominated the paint, outscoring the Blue Devils 62-28 there while also building a 46-41 rebounding advantage.
NO. 7 MICHIGAN 69, MINNESOTA 60: Jordan Poole scored 22 points and Michigan (24-3, 13-3) beat host Minnesota (17-10, 7-9) to set up a matchup Sunday against rival Michigan State for first place in the Big Ten.
CINCINNATI 60, CENTRAL FLORIDA 55: Justin Jenifer put Cincinnati (22-4, 11-2) ahead to stay with a layup and hit a three-pointer with 19.9 seconds left, rallying the Bearcats past Central Florida (19-6, 9-4) in the American Athletic Conference.
BALDWIN WALLACE 81, CAPITAL 67: Baldwin Wallace (19-8) took command with a 22-6 run in the second half and beat host Capital (20-7) in a semifinal of the Ohio Athletic Conference tournament. Michael Quiring scored 12 points during the run that put the Yellow Jackets up 74-59 with 1:35 left. Baldwin Wallace will play Mount Union in the final on Saturday. Austin Schreck scored 20 points for Capital.
FINDLAY 89, OHIO DOMINICAN 63: Trey Smith scored 27 points to lead Findlay (22-3, 15-2) past host Ohio Dominican (15-10, 11-7) in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. Sam Hickey scored 17 points and Hasan Varence 14 for Ohio Dominican.