Duke Reportedly Makes Decision On Cooper Flagg For ACC Semifinals
Duke was able to beat Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals Thursday despite losing Cooper Flagg to injury.
The Blue Devils are reportedly going to have to do it without their star freshman in tomorrow night’s semifinals as well. NJ Advance Media’s Adam Zagoria said Flagg will not play against North Carolina on Friday after spraining his left ankle in the first half of this afternoon’s game.
“Asked if there was any chance Flagg would play, a source close to him said, ‘None,'” Zagoria wrote.
This news shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, as Duke head coach Jon Scheyer essentially said Flagg would not play tomorrow in his postgame presser Thursday.
“It’s not about being ready to go tomorrow. 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,” Scheyer said. “I would have to be really convinced that we should even consider seeing if he can go tomorrow. 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.”
Should Duke, which swept the season series against its arch rival, beat the Tar Heels for a third time on Friday, it seems unlikely we would see Flagg in Saturday’s championship game either.
The Blue Devils are expected to be a No. 1 seed when the NCAA Tournament bracket is unveiled on Sunday, and as one of the top contenders for the national title, it would make sense for them to get Flagg back as close to 100% as possible before bringing him back.
When Flagg went down with his ankle injury with 2:46 left in the first half Thursday, Duke trailed by nine after having been down by as many as 14.
Thanks to the efforts of Kon Knueppel, who scored a game-high 28 points, and his fellow freshmen Khaman Maluach and Isaiah Evans, who added 14 apiece, the Blue Devils rallied and pulled away from Georgia Tech, winning 78-70.
