The end of the second half of tonight’s Duke-NC State game has gone off the rails.
With a little over four minutes remaining, play had to be stopped because Duke freshman center Khaman Maluach got sick and vomited on the court in the middle of a play. It happened as Maluach’s teammate Cooper Flagg drove to the basket and was fouled. There was a delay of a few minutes as the floor was wiped up and cleaned.
In the video below, you can see the moment Maluach realized he was about to get sick. We’ve all been there.
The 7-foot-2 big man tried to hold it in but couldn’t. Thankfully, Maluach walked to the locker room with trainers and appeared to be okay.
Khaman Maluach oh no!!! pic.twitter.com/mvgAm6kOk1
— Casey (@csybcz) January 28, 2025
Duke head coach Jon Scheyer will likely have an update on Maluach after the game. A native of South Sudan, Maluach had four points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots before exiting.
To add to the chaos of the the second half, a short time after Maluach became ill, play was once again stopped momentarily to attend to a fan in the Duke student section who appeared to have fainted.
Security personnel carried the young woman out in order to provide further assistance. Hopefully she’s okay.
No. 2 Duke trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half of this game and was behind 37-33 at halftime but wound up pulling away in the second frame behind stellar defense and the all-around play of Flagg, the likely No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
With tonight’s 74-64 win, the Blue Devils moved to 18-2 overall and 10-0 in ACC play. Duke has won 14 consecutive games dating back to November heading into Saturday night’s rivalry matchup at home against North Carolina.
That game will tip off at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN from Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Related: Cooper Flagg Is Making Headlines For His GPA At Duke