Miami will not have third-leading scorer Nijel Pack for a second straight game when the Hurricanes host No. 8 Duke on Wednesday.
But coach Jim Larranaga said Miami hopes to have him available again by the end of the week, which could spell a return for Saturday’s home game against Georgia Tech.
Larranaga’s update came one day after he said on Monday’s ACC coaches conference call that the team doctors were speaking with Pack and his family about what was best for the player’s future.
“He’s dealt with these injuries all season long,” Larranaga said then. “This is not something that just happened in the last week. He was dealing with this back in December. He missed a couple of games, then he came back and played and now he’s missing a couple more games.
“Last week in our home game against (North) Carolina and then our road game against Clemson, Nijel was just not himself. He tried his best, he gave a great effort, but he was in pain. He’s such a great competitor. He wanted to try to help the team as much as he could, but injuries are injuries. You have to deal with them.”
Pack missed Miami’s 85-77 road loss to Boston College on Saturday with a “lower extremity” injury. It was the Hurricanes’ fourth straight loss, dropping a team once ranked in the AP Top 25 to 15-11 on the season (6-9 ACC).
Pack has appeared in 23 of Miami’s 26 games this season and averages 13.7 points per game while pacing the Hurricanes with 3.6 assists per contest.
It is Pack’s second season at Miami after spending his first two at Kansas State. In 111 career games, he has averaged 14.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. He was integral to Miami’s run to the Final Four last year, averaging 16.4 points over five NCAA Tournament games.
–Field Level Media
