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Ryan Kelly Injury: Duke Forward Will Not Play Against NC State

USA TODAY Sports

Duke forward Ryan Kelly re-injured his right foot against Clemson on Tuesday night, and the school announced Wednesday that he is out indefinitely. He'll miss the NC State game for sure. This is the same foot that he injured last season, which forced him to sit out the ACC and NCAA tournaments.

For a team that's about as thin as we are, it's a damaging blow, to be sure. Does it suddenly make NC State the favorite on Saturday? Probably not. Some combination of Amile Jefferson, Alex Murphy, and Josh Hairston will replace Kelly's minutes, and probably the biggest impact for State is the fact that those guys aren't major three-point shooting threats like Kelly is.

As bad as State's perimeter defense can be at times, I was really not looking forward to having to contend with five Blue Devils who shoot 37.5% or better from three. Kelly is actually leading Duke at 52.1% (25-48) from beyond the arc.