March Madness: Duke gets Marques Bolden back vs. North Dakota State

After missing the ACC Tournament, Duke forward Marques Bolden will return from a knee injury for the NCAA Tournament.

The Duke Blue Devils are going into the NCAA Tournament as the clear favorite, with Zion Williamson back healthy. Marques Bolden missed the ACC Tournament after suffering a sprained knee against North Carolina in the regular season finale, but on Thursday coach Mike Krzyzewski said the junior big man will play Friday night against North Dakota State.

Bolden has been an important piece for Duke, averaging 5.8 points and 4.7 rebounds over 20 minutes per game this season. When Williamson was out with a knee injury of his own at the end of the regular season, Bolden had 14 points against Virginia Tech and posted a double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds) against Miami.

The news is not as good for fellow junior Jack White, who suffered a hamstring injury in the ACC title game against Florida State, missed essentially the final 10 minutes and is unlikely to play against NDSU. Krzyzewski suggested White could play in the second tournament game for the Blue Devils, assuming they do as expected and advance past the No. 16 seed Bison.

White went through a streak of 28 straight missed 3-pointers this season, and he continued his streaky ways by going scoreless in all three of Duke’s conference tournament games. He’s averaging 4.4 points and 5 rebounds per game this season.

Bolden will not start on Friday night, and Coach K wouldn’t commit to how many minutes he’ll play. But with Duke obviously favored heavily, and likely to have an easy time advancing, Bolden’s presence on the floor will be as much symbolic as it will be functional during the game.

The Blue Devils are going to pretty much be at full strength from the start of this NCAA Tournament, and ready for what many think will be an unstoppable run on their way to cutting down the nets in Minneapolis on April 8.