Maliq Brown sat out the Duke basketball squad’s 72-46 home victory over the Incarnate Word Cardinals last Tuesday night. At the time, although third-year Blue Devil head coach Jon Scheyer told the media following the game that there was no timetable for his return to action, the fact that the 6-foot-9, 222-pound junior forward wasn’t wearing a boot sure seemed like an encouraging sign.

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Evidently, it was.

Roughly two hours ahead of tipoff between the No. 5-ranked Duke Blue Devils (8-2, 1-0 ACC) and the visiting George Mason Patriots (7-3, 0-0 Atlantic 10) in Cameron Indoor Stadium at 7 p.m. ET Tuesday (ACC Network), Duke basketball confirmed that Brown is officially “IN” for the contest.

Brown, who transferred to Duke following two years at Syracuse and has lived up to expectations that came with his ACC All-Defensive Team selection last season by averaging a team-high 2.1 steals through nine appearances as a Blue Devil, sustained the toe setback during the second half of the squad’s 76-65 road win over the Louisville Cardinals in their ACC opener back on Dec. 8.

While Brown is a go, two reserves toward the end of the Duke basketball bench are now out of commission versus the Patriots.

Graduate guard and mop-up-duty crowd favorite Spencer Hubbard is sidelined with some tooth-related matter. And graduate guard/forward Cameron Sheffield is out with an illness.

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