Duke’s Ryan Kelly had surgery on his right foot on Tuesday to repair damage suffered when he sprained it in practice before the ACC tournament.

The junior forward will be unable to participate in training for the next 6-8 weeks.

Kelly, who played high school basketball at Ravenscroft, averaged 11.8 points per game this season, hitting 40.8 percent of his 3-pointers. He scored a career-high 23 points in the Blue Devils' win over Wake Forest on Feb. 28.

GREENSBORO – Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is hopeful that Ryan Kelly might be healthy enough to play some “situational” minutes against Lehigh on Friday night, but he said Thursday that he won’t be a part of the regular rotation against the Mountain Hawks.

Kelly was receiving treatment and wasn’t available for interviews Thursday, but he hasn’t practiced with the team since spraining his right foot in practice last Tuesday.

“There’s steady progress,” Krzyzewski said, “but not good enough as of this morning where I would have confidence in putting him in a game except maybe to shoot the free throw or handle maybe a possession or two in an end-game situation.”

Without Kelly, Duke’s offense stagnated at the ACC tournament in Atlanta. Duke made 37.1 percent  of its field-goal attempts while averaging only 59.5 points in the two games, well below its season average of 77.5.

DURHAM – Mike Krzyzewski said Tuesday that he hopes Ryan Kelly will return to the practice court Thursday, but Duke still isn’t sure how much it will be able to count on the junior forward when it begins the NCAA tournament on Friday against Lehigh.

Kelly suffered a sprained right foot last Tuesday in practice and sat out the ACC tournament.

“He’s doing running in water and trying to get his movements and conditioning going,” Duke’s coach said. “We’re hoping by Thursday to get him on the court. But we’ll see – it’s a day-to-day thing.”

ATLANTA -- Thanks to a late turnover by Virginia Tech, Duke escaped with a narrow win Friday night, but the 60-56 win raised as many questions as it answered for the Blue Devils.

Namely, who knew Ryan Kelly was so important to Duke?

Sure, the 6-foot-10 forward from Raleigh can stretch defenses with his 3-point shooting ability, and he's averaging 11.8 points and 5.4 rebounds, but it turns out his mere presence in Duke’s forward rotation is absolutely and unquestionably essential. The rest of it is a bonus.

DURHAM – Duke forward Ryan Kelly sprained his right foot in practice on Tuesday and will miss the ACC tournament.

The junior will be monitored over the weekend and re-evaluated Monday.

Without Kelly, the Blue Devils will have to take care to avoid wearing the Plumlee brothers out, especially if they get to Sunday’s championship. Beyond Mason and Miles, Duke’s only other frontcourt options are Josh Hairston and Mike Gbinije.

DURHAM -- About five minutes after North Carolina put the finishing touches on its 88-70 win over Duke on Saturday night, the Blue Devils players made their way back onto the court at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Miles Plumlee addressed the remaining crowd, thanking the Duke students for their support during his career. He then said the Blue Devils would make amends for its disappointing performance against the Tar Heels by reaching the Final Four.

Such a promise required a bit of a leap of faith after Duke’s miserable effort in the first half against UNC. But if the fourth-ranked Blue Devils (26-5, 13-3) have shown nothing else this season, it’s that they have the ability to defy expectations in both directions.

N&O staff photojournalist Robert Willett shot this picture at the Duke-UNC game last night. Austin Rivers' shot is headed to the basket. Time has expired, the backboard has been illuminated. John Henson of UNC and Ryan Kelly of Duke are watching the trajectory of the ball. In a moment, the ball will fall through the hoop and Duke will win a stunning victory. In this frame, the outcome is still uncertain. All that these players and both nations know is that there is no time on the clock but the game is not over quite yet

The watchword at Duke on Monday was “consistency,” and no one -- not the players, not coach Mike Krzyzewski -- had an explanation why the Blue Devils have been so inconsistent this year. At least, they were consistent in that respect.

“I don’t know, but we have to figure it out,” Duke forward Mason Plumlee said, two days before Duke visits North Carolina in the first meeting between the teams.

DURHAM – During team meetings and off-the-court conversations, Duke basketball players have stressed improving defensively.

After watching a few opponents blow by them off the dribble or lose them on screens, the No. 8 Blue Devils (13-2, 1-0 ACC) say they’ve had enough. A solid defensive performance in their 81-74 conference-opener over Georgia Tech has bolstered the team’s confidence as they welcome No. 16 Virginia (14-1, 1-0) to Cameron Indoor Stadium on Thursday (ESPN, 9 p.m.).

Updated 4:52 p.m.

ATLANTA – The most public of the consequences from Duke’s dreary effort against Temple on Wednesday night fell on junior forward Ryan Kelly.

While the entire Blue Devils team shared in the loss, Kelly was one of two players to be benched for Duke’s ACC opener against Georgia Tech, replaced in the starting lineup by Miles Plumlee. The other lineup change – Quinn Cook for Tyler Thornton at point guard – had as much to do with Cook’s ascension as anything Thornton did or did not do.

So while it might be convenient to say Kelly used his sudden status as a reserve as the impetus for his career-high 21 points in fifth-ranked Duke’s 81-74 victory over the Yellow Jackets on Saturday, Kelly said his motivation came from within.