Duke vs NC State delay: Game paused following Khaman Maluach puking on floor, leaves to locker room

Duke is in the heat of battle with an in-state opponent, NC State, on Monday. Jon Scheyer‘s team is currently up 63-62 with just over four minutes remaining but there has been a delay on the court. Cameron Indoor staff is having to clean up Khaman Maluach got sick.

There was nobody standing too close to Maluach when the moment occurred. Cooper Flagg was driving to the basket but Maluach had to remove himself from the play. He was off to the side, throwing up just on the baseline.

Duke’s big man then had to sit down before trainers attended to him. As the cleaning process took place, the ESPN broadcast showed Maluach going back to the locker room. When the game does eventually get back underway, Flagg will have two free throws.

You can watch the full moment here.

uhh have to say in my time watching hoops vomiting on the court is a first pic.twitter.com/4PzzjlBgqT

— J. Kyle Mann (@jkylemann) January 28, 2025

To this point, there has been no update provided on Maluach. With little time remaining in the game, you have to imagine Duke will have to close out NC State without him. What caused him to get sick in the midst of the matchup is unknown.

Maluach was having a tough night offensively, only scoring four points before leaving. He made two of six shot attempts and missed his lone three-point attempt. Where Duke will miss him is on the glass, as Maluach grabbed eight rebounds. Three of them were offensive.

Hopefully, there is nothing wrong with Maluach long-term. Next up for Duke is North Carolina and the Blue Devils will need everyone they can before facing the program’s top rival. Thankfully, there is a good amount of time before now and then, with tip-off from Durham scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.

An update will surely come from Scheyer during his postgame press conference.

Shortly after Khaman Maluach vomits, Duke fan passes out

Shortly after Maluach vomited, another delay stopped play. A fan passed out in the stands during the second half of Duke’s home game vs. NC State on Monday night.

The game was halted with 3:30 left in the second half when a group of security guards huddled to the first few rows of the student section behind the scorer’s table. The fan, who appeared to still be unconscious, was pulled out of the stands by the security and a group of them rushed her off the court.

On3’s Barkley Truax contributed to this report