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.”

Saturday’s 62-59 loss to Florida State in the ACC Tournament semifinals at Atlanta left the Blue Devils in a bad situation as the No. 2 NCAA seed in the South regional.

Getting past Lehigh in Friday’s first round at Greensboro shouldn’t be a problem. But if the opponent on Sunday turns out to be former Duke assistant Mike Brey and No. 7 Notre Dame, then all sorts of wild cards could come into play.

Worst of all, the Devils could eventually land in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome against No. 1 regional seed Kentucky. Thousands of Wildcat fans will storm the city in hopes of finding tickets for that weekend.

 A regional final against the Wildcats would make for great TV ratings, but a big challenge for the Devils.

Duke is a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament and will face Lehigh in its opening game on Friday at the Greensboro Coliseum.

The Mountain Hawks (26-7) won the Patriot League championship over Bucknell. Lehigh lost by nine points at Michigan State earlier this season.

The Blue Devils are in the same region as No. 1 overall seed Kentucky. No. 3 seed Baylor and No. 6 seed UNLV are two potential opponents for the Blue Devils.

After Duke's ACC Tournament semifinal loss to Florida State, how will the Blue Devils regroup for the NCAA Tournament? CineSport's Noah Coslov talks with Duke beat writer Jack Daly.

Florida State lost a 10-point lead in the second half before recovering to beat Duke 62-59 on Saturday, sending the Seminoles to reach only the second ACC tournament championship game in the program's history.

ATLANTA -- Could Duke’s ACC Tournament semifinal loss to Florida State on Saturday have been one of those rare occurrences where a loss was a good thing in the long run?

Perhaps that’s the case for the Blue Devils, whose 62-59 loss at least enabled the team to get an extra day’s rest before beginning the NCAA Tournament on Thursday or Friday.

Updated 7:48 p.m.

ATLANTA – Austin Rivers rued the fact he didn’t do exactly what he planned when he had the chance to send Duke’s semifinal against Florida State to overtime.

Seth Curry didn’t have time to think through what he wanted to do with his desperation attempt at the buzzer.

Either way, Duke’s top perimeter scorers missed 3-point heaves in the final seconds, allowing Florida State to eke past the Blue Devils for a 62-59 victory. The third-seeded Seminoles (23-9) will face top-seeded North Carolina (29-4) in Sunday’s championship.

Austin Rivers, Mike Krzyzewski and the No. 6 Duke Blue Devils squeaked by the Virginia Tech Hokies, 60-56 in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals on Friday. Duke advances to Saturday's semifinal round.

Tyyler Thornton scored a career-best 13 points and Austin Rivers hustled for a clinching three-point play that carried the sixth-ranked Blue Devils to a 60-56 victory over cold-shooting Virginia Tech in the ACC quarterfinals Friday night.