- Saturday, December 31, 2016

Grayson Allen did not play Saturday during Duke’s loss to Virginia Tech, but Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski said Allen was still part of the loss.

Allen, who is suspended indefinitely, made the trip to Blacksburg and sat on the bench in street clothes. He watched Virginia Tech beat fifth-ranked Duke, 89-75.

“Right now, I don’t want to talk about Grayson,” Krzyzewski said. “He was part of the loss today by not being there. Instead of tri-captains, we’ve eliminated him from being a captain of the team. Only Amile (Jefferson) and Matt (Jones) are doing that. It’s unfortunate for any team to have interruptions. Sometimes you have no control of them, like an injury or sickness. Then sometimes something like this happens. We’ve had a lot of interruptions. We have to stop having interruptions.”

Allen was suspended Dec. 22 after his third tripping incident in 2016. He also began screaming on the bench during the game after receiving a technical foul. Amid tears, he apologized after the game for his actions.

Allen is one of Duke’s premier players. The junior shooting guard was averaging 16 points per game before his suspension. He was projected as a first-round pick if he had left Duke last season and entered the NBA draft.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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