Caleb Foster injury update: Duke guard heads to locker room after leaving game vs. North Carolina

Duke guard Caleb Foster left Saturday’s game against North Carolina and headed back to the locker room. ESPN’s Kris Budden said the training staff was looking at his right foot and ankle area after taking his shoe off.

Foster left the rivalry affair with 4:51 to play in the first half and headed straight to the bench for further evaluation. It’s unclear what exactly happened to cause the injury, but it appeared to be non-contact as he may have landed awkwardly.

From there, Foster went back to the locker room. While he was able to walk under his own power for the most part, Budden noticed he had some trouble with his right leg on the way back.

“Caleb Foster, when he was sitting on the bench, the athletic trainers took off his right shoe and were looking at more of the foot/ankle area,” Budden said with four minutes left in the first half. “When I watched him walk back into the locker room, he was able to walk under his own power, but did have a lot of issues putting any weight on the right foot.”

At the time of his departure, Foster had five points and two assists as Duke looked to get revenge on North Carolina after the loss earlier this season. He entered Saturday’s game averaging 8.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists this year while shooting 40.4% from three-point territory – tied with Cameron Boozer for the best on the team.

Caleb Foster’s injury is the latest hit for the Blue Devils, who did not have Patrick Ngongba in the first half. He was a game-time decision on the ACC availability report, though Budden previously reported Duke wasn’t necessarily ruling him out.

Ngongba didn’t play a minute through the first 20 minutes. As he headed into halftime, Jon Scheyer called on others to step up in the second half after North Carolina kept things close through the final minutes into halftime.

“We’ve got to step up for them,” Scheyer told Budden on his way to the locker room. “Obviously, those are two key guys for us. Part of our strength is our depth. But we’ve got to have their backs and get reorganized. Kind of a crazy last 6-7 minutes with C-Fost going down there.”

Duke entered Saturday’s game with the ACC regular-season title already secured with the conference tournament coming up next week. The Blue Devils also had a chance to further bolster their resume as one of a few teams in prime position for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.