Duke coach Jon Scheyer gets emotional after Caleb Foster scores 11 second-half points in Sweet 16 win just 3 weeks after fracturing his foot

Duke point guard Caleb Foster’s indefinite absence ended Friday night in the Sweet 16. And the Blue Devils badly needed him to beat St. John’s.

Foster scored 11 points in the second half of No. 1 Duke’s 80-75 win over No. 5 St. John’s. It was a performance that made Duke coach Jon Scheyer emotional in his postgame interview with CBS.

“He had no business playing today,” Scheyer said after taking a long pause to collect himself. “He was determined, that was one of the most special performances I’ve never seen.

“He was incredible, his will, just even in the huddles when he was going in — some big time plays too. But that was — that’s a leader right there and that’s a guy that came through when we needed him the most.”

Foster suffered a fractured right foot in Duke’s regular-season finale against North Carolina on March 7. He went down clutching his foot in the first half of that game and knew right away that it was a significant injury.

In the days before the ACC tournament, Duke said that Foster would be out indefinitely. Given the lack of a timeline and the type of injury, it was easy to wonder if Foster was out for the season.

But Duke said this week that Foster was questionable to play Friday night and he was on the court for 18 minutes. Twelve of those came in the second half, as Duke had to overcome a 10-point deficit early in the period.

In his postgame press conference, Scheyer said that Foster returned to game action without participating in any 5-on-5 portions of Duke’s practices.

After the game, Foster was using a scooter to get around Capital One Arena. It was a familiar sight for Duke fans. Before The Blue Devils’ second-round win against TCU, Patrick Ngongba II enters the arena was the assistance of a scooter. But Ngongba, who also missed the ACC tournament with a right foot injury, returned against TCU.

He played 17 minutes against St. John’s, as Duke had its most commonly used lineup — Foster, Ngongba, Cameron Boozer, Isaiah Evans and Dame Sarr — available for the first time in three weeks.

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