Duke’s Marvin Bagley III to miss game vs. Georgia Tech

Reeling a bit after a loss to North Carolina, Duke will have to do without Marvin Bagley III Sunday night.

After a 82-78 loss to chief rival North Carolina Thursday night, Duke has lost three of its last four games. With Georgia Tech next up on Sunday night, the Blue Devils will be without forward Marvin Bagley III due to a mild right knee sprain.

Bagley was apparently injured in the first half of the loss to the Tar Heels. But he still played 39 minutes in the game, and posted his 18th double-double of the season with 15 points and 16 rebounds. The highly touted freshman, and possible No. 1 pick in June’s NBA draft, leads the ACC in scoring (21.2 points per game) and rebounding (11.4 per game) this season.

The three recent losses for the No. 9-ranked Blue Devils, to Virginia, St. John’s and North Carolina, have been by a total of 10 points. Georgia Tech is just 11-13  (4-7 in ACC play) this season, with six losses in their last seven games, so it should be a pretty easy mark in the win column for Duke Sunday night even without Bagley on the floor.

In Bagley’s stead, fellow freshman forward Wendell Carter Jr. is in line for an opportunity to shine against the Yellow Jackets. The Atlanta native is averaging 14.3 points and 9.4 rebounds per game this season, and he’ll of course be playing back home with Sunday’s contest taking place at Georgia Tech. In his last five games, Carter Jr. has posted three double-doubles.

Bagley’s injury has been classified as mild, and his ability to play practically the entire game against North Carolina without obvious incident points to that.

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But the season is a failure for Duke and coach Mike Krzyzewski without a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. So assuring Bagley is 100 percent healthy then takes precedent over a mid-February game against one of the bottom-tier teams in the ACC.