Will Tyrese Proctor play for No. 8 Duke basketball at Miami? Blue Devils prepared regardless

Whether injured starting guard Tyrese Proctor returns to play for No. 8 Duke on Wednesday night at Miami or not, Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer is confident his team is up for whatever challenge comes its way.

After winning at Florida State, 76-67, on Saturday with Proctor home in Durham due to concussion protocol, Scheyer’s Blue Devils have rattled off 15 wins in their past 17 games. They’ve done all that with three starting players, Proctor, senior Jeremy Roach and sophomore Mark Mitchell, missing games along the way.

From the low point of back-to-back losses at Arkansas and Georgia Tech, Duke (20-5, 11-3 ACC) has put its season on solid footing with aims on winning big come March.

Monday, Scheyer made it clear he wants his team to get the credit its earned even though he’s heard some media voices questioning his team’s toughness.

“I think that talk, it’s kind of funny to me,” Scheyer said, “because you know, how many teams that in the country right now have 20 wins and people are talking about how tough they are? Or do they have dogs? How do you get 20 wins without having that?”

Still work to do

Scheyer knows his team is far from perfect. He was irritated after a 93-84 loss on Feb. 3 at rival North Carolina because he didn’t think his team played with the compete level needed against a team of that stature.

On Jan. 20, Duke lost 80-76 at home to Pittsburgh as it failed to overcome not playing without Roach and Mitchell.

Other than that, the Blue Devils have met every challenge over the past nine weeks. They won three December games, including a 78-70 win over Baylor in New York, with Proctor in street clothes recovering from a sprained ankle suffered in the Dec. 2 at Georgia Tech.

Five times during this 17-games stretch, Kyle Filipowski failed to score in double figures. Despite that subpar production from their leading scorer and the ACC’s preseason player of the year, the Blue Devils have won all five times.

That includes Saturday at Florida State.

Duke also gained a measure of revenge on Georgia Tech on Jan. 13, winning 84-79 despite Mitchell being in street clothes and Roach being unavailable for all but 59 seconds of the final 8:22.

“I can go through each one of our guys,” Scheyer said, “the moments they’ve had, the plays they’ve made. The toughness you have to have when you start off the season 5-3. To start off the season you’re 5-3. You’re 20-5 since then.”

It’s not that Scheyer doesn’t want Proctor to return as soon as the medical staff determines he’s healthy enough to play. The Blue Devils have another difficult road game at Wake Forest on Saturday, as well.

But, until Proctor is cleared, he’s confident his team can play well anyway because they’ve shown a toughness he admires.

“There’s a long way to go,” Scheyer said “Look, we have two road games this week. They’re gonna be incredibly hard. And we’re excited about that next opportunity. But they’ve shown me already what they’re made of. We have to keep getting better in a lot of areas and keep getting tougher, keep getting better. But their mental toughness is there. They have it. They do.”

What’s up with Tyrese Proctor?

The latest on Proctor, the 6-5 guard who has started 16 games this season and averages 10 points per game, is he’s still working through the team’s concussion protocol. Getting back on the practice court is only the start.

“When you’re in concussion protocol,” Scheyer said, “you can’t just come back and practice. There’s steps that need to be made.”

Proctor suffered the injury on Feb. 12 at Cameron Indoor Stadium when the Blue Devils beat Wake Forest, 77-69. He hit his head on the court during a first-half fall. Though he played 11 minutes in the second half, his symptoms prevented him from practicing the rest of the week.

He wasn’t on the team’s Friday flight to Tallahassee, Florida, as he awaits medical clearance.

It’s just the latest in a serious of medical hurdles the season has thrown in Duke’s path.

Duke adjusts to injuries

Various ailments have caused Roach (knee, ankle), Mark Mitchell (knee) and Proctor (ankle, concussion) to be out from time to time, beginning with Duke’s season-opening win over Dartmouth with Mitchell sidelined.

Each time they started the game without one of them, the Blue Devils have prevailed except for that loss to Pitt when both Proctor and Roach sat out.

When Duke won at Florida State, it improved its record to 6-1 in games where one of its usual starting players is not in uniform due to injury.

“Are there moments where we could have played better or we didn’t play through the contact that we needed to? Of course,” Scheyer said. “But you could say that for any team in the country. That’s why there’s no team that’s undefeated.”

Duke has six regular-season games left, including home games with fellow ACC title contenders UNC (20-6, 12-3) and Virginia (20-6, 11-4).

The Blue Devils would like to be at full power for all of them, starting with Miami at 7 p.m. Wednesday night at the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Florida. Proctor’s progress over the next two days factors in that hope.

“We have to take it step by step,” Scheyer said, “and then we’ll see how he progresses for Tuesday, and then potentially for Wednesday.”

Meanwhile, Scheyer can take solace in his team’s success despite so many injuries preventing continuity.

“We’ve had to have more different starting lineups, different rotations and different moments where we’re asking guys to do different things,” Scheyer said. “They’ve had to be flexible and really adjust to that.”