After six games Duke has announced that freshman forward Wendell Moore, Jr. will be available when the Blue Devils take on Syracuse tonight.

Moore, who broke a bone in his right hand late against Miami in early January, will play tonight when the No. 9 Blue Devils battle Syracuse at the Carrier Dome (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).

The Charlotte native's return to the lineup is a needed shot in the arm for a team that went from No. 1 in the country, playing 10 different players per night, to No. 9 after posting back to back losses to Clemson and then Louisville. In both games, and in subsequent wins against Pittsburgh and Georgia Tech, the lack of depth had been evident as Duke struggled to maintain leads.

On the season Moore is averaging 7.4 and 3.9 rebounds per game while shooting 44 percent from the floor. And while that offensive production will certainly help Duke, it's on the defensive end where his impact will most likely be felt - especially as Duke prepares to guard the ACC's leading scorer, 6-foot-6 Elijah Hughes.

Hughes represents the kind of player each of Pitt, Clemson, Louisville, and Georgia Tech used to baffle Duke's defensive efforts. Each team found success against the Blue Devils - either building leads or rallying back - by attacking Duke with smaller combo wings for which the Mike Krzyzewski's squad lacked a good defensive matchup. In Moore's absence Matthew Hurt, Jack White, and Javin DeLaurier were all targeted by opponents looking for an advantage.

Moore's brace was removed earlier this week and the freshman was seen participating - seemingly without restrictions - in Duke's pregame warmups against Pittsburgh. Following Saturday afternoon's shoot around at the Carrier Dome, the medical staff cleared him and the program announced he would play.

Since the injury occurred, Moore's rehab has revolved primarily around healing the injury while also remaining in game shape as much as possible. Following the Pittsburgh game head coach Mike Krzyzewski told the media that the freshman wing was "close" to returning.

With their their most versatile wing defender back, there will be questions as to how the rotation will once again evolve. The most likely scenario would be Moore regaining his starting small forward position with Cassius Stanley moving over to the shooting guard position alongside Tre Jones at the one. This would mean moving Jordan Goldwire from the starting lineup back to the sixth man role. White and DeLaurier will likely still back up Hurt and Vernon Carey, while the remaining minutes are likely to be fought over by Joey Baker and Alex O'Connell, likely in that order.

Heading into Saturday night's game Duke is 17-3 overall and 7-2 in Atlantic Coast Conference play and ranked ninth in the national rankings. The team has won two straight games.