Knee injury kept Duke's Smith sidelined

Starting point guard Nolan Smith missed the final 28 minutes of Duke’s 92-51 win against Loyola of Maryland on Wednesday after injuring his left knee in the first half at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

His status for the future wasn’t immediately clear at game’s end.

Smith was taken to the locker room after he was hurt while defending a drive by Brian Rudolph with 8 minutes, 35 seconds remaining in the half. He returned to the bench with 5:15 left in the half and had an ice pack taped to his knee.

He didn’t play the second half and sat on the bench wearing warm-ups. He scored four points after entering the game as Duke’s third-leading scorer with 11.5 points per game.

Forwards Kyle Singler and Gerald Henderson used their size against the smaller Greyhounds (4-9) to lead Duke in scoring. Singler scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and Henderson added 19 points.

Duke (11-1) forced 24 turnovers and scored 16 fast-break points but struggled to a 1-for-12 performance from beyond the 3-point arc. The Blue Devils open ACC play at 7:45 p.m. Sunday against Virginia Tech at Cameron.

– Ken Tysiac