Basketball World Reacts To Unfortunate Duke Lineup News
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - FEBRUARY 28: Still holding the ball after an aggressive floor scramble, Dariq Whitehead #0 of the Duke Blue Devils and teammates Kyle Filipowski #30, Dereck Lively II #1 and Mark Mitchell #25 walk to the bench during the second half of their game against the North Carolina State Wolfpack at Cameron Indoor Stadium on February 28, 2023 in Durham, North Carolina. Duke won 71-67. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
Mark Mitchell has started each of Duke's 35 games so far this season, but that streak will come to an end on Saturday.
The Blue Devils forward is questionable to play in this afternoon's Round of 32 matchup against Tennessee as he deals with a knee injury.
Mitchell was replaced in the starting lineup by five-star freshman Dariq Whitehead.
The basketball world took to Twitter to react to this news.
"I am shook. Mark Mitchell is so important to this team. Gonna need Flip to play better than he did on Thursday but I like this start," one fan wrote.
"How we just hearing about this?" another asked.
"Mitchell questionable is a surprise," another said.
Mitchell is averaging 9.1 points and 4.5 rebounds through 27.1 minutes per game for the Blue Devils. Though he's not a volume scorer, he often comes through for his team in important moments.
Fortunately for Duke, they have some solid bench depth. Whitehead has steadily improved throughout his first college basketball season. In the Blue Devils' tournament-opening win over Oral Roberts, the 18-year-old forward dropped 13 points and four rebounds.
No. 5 seed Duke entered today's contest as a 3.5-point favorite over No. 4 seed Tennessee.
