Jim Larranaga reveals Isaiah Wong battled illness before Duke game

Miami fell to Duke on Saturday in a hard-fought contest, ultimately losing 68-66. Hurricanes star player Isaiah Wong battled illness on Saturday that could have prevented him from playing altogether.

Wong was able to gut it out for 25 minutes but clearly wasn’t quite himself.

“Yeah, he’s sick. I don’t know he even should have played today,” coach Jim Larranaga said after the contest. “He’s got a sinus infection. He’s on a lot of meds. His fatigue factor, he just did not have his normal energy level.”

Wong finished with only seven points on 2-of-8 shooting, able to also pitch in two rebounds, an assist and a steal. He also turned it over twice.

Those numbers were a far cry from his typical outing, with Wong averaging 16.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.6 steals per contest, leading the team with those averages in all but rebounding.

Isaiah Wong battled illness, Jeremy Roach battled rust

While Miami’s star was limited as Isaiah Wong battled illness, one of Duke’s stalwarts was coming back from a three-game absence.

That was guard Jeremy Roach. Roach hadn’t played since Jan. 4, missing the three games prior to the Miami contest due to injury.

“Jeremy, for us, his poise and presence on the floor — he’s been in these games. He’s shaking off some rust still, but the fact that he’s out there says a lot about him and the boost it’s given our team,” Duke coach Jon Sheyer said at half.

“We’ll see (how much we can get out of Roach in the second half). We’ll squeeze whatever we can. But everybody needs to step up. Thought we played a good half, need to finish possessions and really value the ball on offense.”

Roach was huge in the win, contributing 14 points off the bench for the Blue Devils on 6-of-10 shooting. He also added four assists, two steals and a rebound.