No. 1 Duke was without Cooper Flagg on Friday and will be without him on Saturday as well after a close win over UNC.
Duke held off a defiant North Carolina comeback to take a 74-71 win, its third of the season over its rival, in the ACC tournament semifinals. The Tar Heels trailed by as many as 24 points, but a free throw lane violation cost the team the win.
The Blue Devils announced before the game they would be without Flagg, the likely No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, due to an ankle sprain. After the game, head coach Jon Scheyer confirmed Flagg would also miss the ACC championship game against the winner of the other semifinal between Louisville and Clemson.
Forward Maliq Brown was also out Friday with a shoulder injury. But even without those starters, Duke was able to get the win and advance to the finals.
The Tar Heels had a huge chance to take the lead with four seconds left. Duke center Khaman Maluach fouled out and gave Tar Heels forward Ven-Allen Lubin a potentially game-winning free throw. But Lubin missed the first free throw, and the second was nullified after a lane violation from UNC forward Jae’Lyn Withers.
Two free throws from Kon Knueppel on the other end sealed the deal for the Blue Devils, who will now face the winner of Clemson-Louisville in the ACC tournament finals on Saturday.
Friday brought another physical, rowdy matchup between the two teams. Duke and UNC traded points early on, but the Blue Devils pulled ahead, holding a double-digit lead throughout much of the first half.
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Duke went on a 15-0 run to end the first half, heading into the locker room with a comfortable 45-24 lead and a lot of momentum. The Blue Devils’ defense was on full display, with players getting big blocks and diving on the floor to keep the Tar Heels from scoring.
Partway through the second half, the Tar Heels started to find a rhythm, chipping away at the deficit. North Carolina cut Duke’s lead down to single digits with less than five minutes remaining in the game, pushing toward a potential comeback. A big and-one from Seth Trimble, plus two more free throws, got the Tar Heels within four points.
With less than a minute left, UNC cut that lead down to one point. That was as close as they’d get.
Flagg sustained his ankle sprain in Duke’s quarterfinal game against Georgia Tech on Thursday. He landed on another player’s foot after jumping for a rebound and immediately hit the floor in pain. He was later seen being transported in a wheelchair for imaging.
Scheyer told reporters after the game the priority was making sure Flagg is ready for the NCAA Tournament, which starts next week:
“It’s not about being ready to go tomorrow,” Scheyer said. “That’s not the most important thing for us. We’ve got to see if we can get him right for this run that we can make in the [NCAA] tournament.
“But I would have to be really convinced that we should even consider seeing if he can go [Friday]. He may not be able to go anyway. He probably won’t be able to go anyway. But I think it’s a real long shot, a real long shot.”
Flagg, the favorite for National Player of the Year honors, posted 15 points, nine rebounds, six assists and four blocks in Duke’s win over the Tar Heels last week. In his first game against them, he had 21 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, three steals and two blocks.
His absence left Duke in need of someone to step up and take his place. As Yahoo Sports’ Kevin O’Connor laid out, the most likely players to do so were fellow freshmen Knueppel, Maluach and Isaiah Evans, all of whom could help their draft stock with a big game without help from Flagg. Knueppel led the team in scoring on Friday, finishing with 17 points, while Maluach ended with 13 points and nine rebounds. Evans had a slower night, ending with two points, two rebounds and two assists.
