No. 2 Duke loses guard Wendell Moore to injury. How long will he be out?
No. 2 Duke will be without a key member of its backcourt rotation for an extended period of time.
Wendell Moore Jr., suffered a broken bone in his right hand late in Saturday night’s 95-62 win at Miami that required surgery on Monday, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said.
The school released information Monday night saying procedure went according to plan. While Moore is listed as out indefinitely, he is expected to return this season.
A 6-6 freshman guard from Charlotte and Cox Mill High School, Moore is averaging 7.4 points and 3.9 rebounds per game for the Blue Devils (13-1, 3-0 ACC). He’s made 44.6 percent of his shots from the field, including 3 of 7 (42.9 percent) on 3-pointers.
Moore has played in all 14 games for Duke, starting five times. He’s played 22.1 minutes per game, tied for third-most on the team.
He suffered the injury late in Saturday night’s game while playing defense. He remained in the game but experienced swelling overnight and reported the worsening condition to Duke’s training staff on Sunday. He’s been diagnosed with a fracture of the fourth metacarpal bone.
“We were on it right away and there’s quickness today in getting it done,” Krzyzewski said Monday. “We think everything is going to be OK but he’ll be out for a while.”
Over Duke’s last five games, while playing between 21 and 27 minutes, the versatile Moore has manned Duke’s point guard, small forward and power forward positions at different times in a reserve role.
The Blue Devils are using more players than usual in their rotation this season, which means they have plenty of options to handle the minutes in Moore’s absence. Junior guard Jordan Goldwire is already a key part of Duke’s backcourt rotation, averaging 18.4 minutes per game playing in place of, and increasingly alongside, starting point guard Tre Jones.
Junior Alex O’Connell, sophomore Joey Baker and senior Jack White can also handle extra minutes at backcourt positions as needed.
Winners of seven games in a row, the Blue Devils play three ACC games over seven days, starting at Georgia Tech on Wednesday night (9 p.m., ACC Network). They return home Saturday to face Wake Forest (8 p.m., ACC Network) before traveling to play at Clemson on Jan. 14 (7 p.m.).
This story was originally published January 6, 2020 at 12:33 PM.