GREENVILLE, S.C. — Patrick Ngongba II returns to Duke basketball and the top-seeded Blue Devils will battle No. 9 seed TCU for a spot in the Sweet 16 of the 2026 NCAA men’s tournament.
Prior to the second round of March Madness, Ngomba was listed as questionable on the NCAA’s availability report and he missed five straight games with persistent soreness in his right foot. He came on the court with 16 minutes and 14 seconds left in the first half, and the game was tied at 7.
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The 6-foot-11 center averaged 10.7 points, 6 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. CBS reporter Tracy Wolfson spoke with Duke coach Jon Scheyer about Ngomba’s situation ahead of the game between Duke (33-2) and TCU (23-11) at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
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“If he warms up well, I hope he can play and that’s a good thing for our team,” Scheyer told Wolfson.
Ngomba warmed up with the Blue Devils. Wolfson then raised a question about the big man potentially being on a minutes restriction.
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“I naturally think there’s no official restriction since he hasn’t played that many games, but I don’t think he’s going to play regular minutes today for sure,” Scheyer said.
Rodd Baxley covers North Carolina Tar Heels track and field meets for the Fayetteville Observer on the USA TODAY Network. Follow his ACC coverage on X/Twitter or Bluesky: @RoddBaxley. Have questions about UNC? Send them to rbaxley@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared in the Fayetteville Observer: Pat Ngongba returns for Duke’s March Madness second-round game against TCU