Duke’s Patrick Ngongba II ‘unlikely’ to play in tournament opener

Patrick Ngongba II, the starting center for Duke, is not expected to play Thursday when the No. 1 Blue Devils meet No. 16 Siena in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

"I think it's very unlikely that he plays [Thursday]," Duke coach Jon Scheyer told reporters Wednesday. "We're going to keep taking it day by day. And again, he's itching to play, but we're not quite there."

Ngongba, a 6-foot-11 center, has not played since March 2 because of a foot injury.

The Blue Devils (32-2) - the No. 1 overall seed - also will be without starting guard Caleb Foster, who suffered a fractured foot in the regular-season finale against North Carolina on March 7 and had surgery the following day.

At the time, Scheyer didn't rule Foster out for the tournament but said the junior guard probably wouldn't be ready to play until the Final Four, should the Blue Devils advance.

On the season, Ngongba is averaging 10.7 points and 6.0 rebounds and shooting 60.2% from the field in 29 games (28 starts).

Foster, who started 30 of his 31 games, is averaging 8.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists. He is shooting 39 of 97 (40.2%) from 3-point range.

Should the Blue Devils get past Siena (23-11), they would meet the winner of the game between No. 8 Ohio State (21-12) and No. 9 TCU (22-11) on Sunday.