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Duke guard Alex O’Connell hospitalized after fracturing orbital bone

ACC Basketball Tournament - Quarterfinals

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 08: Alex O’Connell #15 of the Duke Blue Devils dunks the ball in the second half against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the quarterfinals of the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament at Barclays Center on March 8, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)

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Alex O’Connell was taken to the hospital following an eye injury that he suffered early on in Duke’s exhibition win over Ryerson in Toronto on Wednesday night. On Thursday, Duke announced that he suffered an orbital bone fracture and will miss the rest of the trip.

He is expected to make a full recovery.

Early on in the first half, a Ryerson player threw down a dunk and accidentally caught O’Connell with an elbow.

“Alex got hurt right away and he’s in the hospital right now,” head coach Mike Krzyzewski said after the game. “He got hit with an elbow, I’m not saying it was intentional, but he got hit. We’re worried about his eye and the socket to see what happened.”

Duke is already dealing with some injury issues on this trip, as two of their four elite freshmen are out. Tre Jones is dealing with a hip injury while Cam Reddish has a lingering groin issue. Both were projected to start for the Blue Devils this season, while O’Connell is thought to be their first guard off the bench.

Duke won the game, 86-67.