By Brian Murphy, WRAL

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	70
1Duke Blue Devils	78
Final

Charlotte, N.C. — Even without injured star freshman Cooper Flagg, the top-ranked Duke men’s basketball team had more than enough to advance in the ACC Tournament on Thursday afternoon.

But the Blue Devils don’t want to face the rest of March without Flagg, the ACC Player of the Year. Flagg injured his left ankle late in the first half of Thursday’s 78-70 victory in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals against No. 8 seed Georgia Tech.

Duke coach Jon Scheyer said X-rays were negative, but that Flagg is unlikely to play in Friday’s semifinal against rival North Carolina.

“It’s not worth it,” Scheyer said. “It just isn’t. He was swollen already. It’s not about being ready to go tomorrow. That’s not the most important thing for us. We 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 tomorrow. And he may not be able to go anyway. He probably won’t be able to go anyway. But I think that’s a real longshot, a real long shot.”

He did not return to the game after the injury, but did sit on the Duke bench for much of the second half. Flagg was able to stand up and celebrate after made baskets. Flagg is the favorite to be the national player of the year and the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft.

Flagg jumped to secure a defensive rebound and appeared to land on the foot of a Georgia Tech player with 2 minutes, 46 seconds remaining in the first half. Flagg left the game and was helped to the locker room, unable to put much weight on his leg.

No. 1 Duke trailed Georgia Tech 31-26 at halftime, but took the lead early in the second half without Flagg and forward Maliq Brown, who disclocated his shoulder in the first half and was ruled out by Duke. Brown left the arena on a stretcher due to the pain.

Scheyer said Brown, a defensive standout, is likely to miss some time after re-injuring the shoulder that caused him to miss several games at the end of the year.

The Blue Devils began the second half on a 12-0 to grab the lead and never trailed again. Freshmen Kon Knueppel (28 points, eight assists), Isaiah Evans (14 points, four 3-pointers) and Khaman Maluach (14 points, nine rebounds) paced the Blue Devils offense.

Flagg being helped back to the locker room. Can’t put pressure on his left leg it seems. @wral pic.twitter.com/uOUrnTUtG9

— Chris Lea – Sportscaster (@ChrisLeaTV) March 13, 2025

Flagg had two points on 1-of-7 shooting in the first half. He had four rebounds, one block and two steals in 15 minutes in the first half. Flagg was blocked at the rim on a dunk attempt.

It was a miserable first half for Duke, given the injuries to Flagg and Brown. The Blue Devils missed their first 13 3-point attempts in the half and trailed by as many as 14 points, but cut their deficit to five at halftime.

“Him getting hurt was unfortunate,” Georgia Tech coach Damon Stoudamire said. “But at the same time, too, Duke is a good team, and they’ve got to figure out what’s — they probably will figure it out. They have a lot of talented guys.”

Cooper Flagg injured his ankle in the first half of Thursday’s game against Georgia Tech.
Reporter: Pat Welter
Web Editor: Mark Bergin

Top-seeded Duke (29-3) earned a double bye into the quarterfinals of the 15-team tournament, which began Tuesday. Georgia Tech defeated Virginia on Wednesday.

Duke is all but assured of a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, which begins next week. The Blue Devils should open the event in Raleigh. But Duke could claim the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament by adding an ACC Tournament title to its regular-season championship.

Duke is scheduled to play North Carolina at 7 p.m. ET Friday, the conference’s first semifinal game. North Carolina defeated Wake Forest 68-59 on Thursday.

On the other side of the bracket, No. 2 seed Louisville (25-6) takes on No. 7 seed Stanford (20-12) while No. 3 seed Clemson (26-5) plays No. 6 seed SMU (23-9).

The title game is Saturday night.

Cooper Flagg is helped back to the locker room after injuring his ankle in the first half of Thursday’s game against Georgia Tech.

ACC Tournament schedule and results

First round

Tuesday, March 11

Game 1: No. 12 Notre Dame 55, No. 13 Pitt 54

Game 2: No. 15 Cal 82, No. 10 Virginia Tech 73 (2OT)

Game 3: No. 14 Syracuse 66, No. 11 Florida State 62

Second round

Wednesday, March 12

Game 4: No. 8 Georgia Tech 66, No. 9 Virginia 60

Game 5: No. 5 North Carolina 76, No. 12 Notre Dame 56

Game 6: No. 7 Stanford 78, No. 15 Cal 73

Game 7: No. 6 SMU 73, No. 11 Syracuse 53

Quarterfinals

Thursday, March 13

Game 8: No. 1 Duke vs. No. 8 Georgia Tech

Game 9: No. 4 Wake Forest vs. No. 5 North Carolina, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Game 10: No. 2 Louisville vs. No. 7 Stanford, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)

Game 11: No. 3 Clemson vs. No. 6 SMU, 9:30 p.m. (ESPN2)

Semifinals

Friday, March 14

Game 12: Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner, 7 p.m. (ESPN or ESPN 2)

Game 13: Game 10 winner vs. Game 11 winner, 9:30 p.m. (ESPN or ESPN 2)

Championship

Saturday, March 15

Championship: Game 12 winner vs. Game 13 winner, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Source: wralsportsfan.com