CHARLOTTE, N.C. — No Cooper Flagg, no problem for No. 1 Duke, which claimed the ACC tournament championship with a 73-62 win over Louisville on Saturday night.
Flagg’s first-half ankle injury in the Blue Devils’ tournament opener against Georgia Tech became the biggest storyline surrounding the projected NCAA tournament 1-seed, but the Blue Devils’ depth provided the bigger narrative thrust. Duke erased a five-point halftime deficit Saturday night, dominating on defense in the second half to snap Louisville’s 11-game winning streak.
“It says a lot about our toughness as a team,” center Khaman Maluach said. “It says a lot about the other guys who stepped up in big moments.”
As coach Jon Scheyer accepted the tournament championship trophy, Flagg stood toward the back of the stage, holding an “ACC champions” foam placard. He earned cheers from the raucous crowd as he climbed the ladder to cut down his share of the net. But beyond that, Flagg’s total contribution to Duke’s three wins in Charlotte was two points in 15 minutes of action.
That should change as Duke turns its attention to the NCAA tournament.
Scheyer had been blunt in acknowledging there was little point in pushing Flagg back onto the court for the ACC tournament after “a good sprain” of his ankle in Thursday’s win over Georgia Tech. X-rays came back negative, and Scheyer said he saw real progress in Flagg’s recovery throughout the weekend. Flagg didn’t walk with a noticeable limp in the postgame celebrations, but he didn’t go through any pregame warmups Saturday either.
Duke confirmed to the NCAA selection committee that Flagg’s injury wasn’t serious, and he is fully expected to play, easing any concerns about the Blue Devils’ seeding in the NCAA tournament.
“I don’t know who said that,” Scheyer said after Saturday’s win. “I didn’t say that directly, but that’s exactly my intention. It’s trending in a great way where Cooper will be ready to go right away in the NCAA tournament.”
Without Flagg for the past three games, it was Duke’s two other projected lottery picks from its freshman class who handled business. Kon Knueppel won tournament MVP honors, scoring 18 points to go with eight rebounds in Saturday’s win over the Cardinals. Maluach was a force on defense throughout the tournament run, and he was perhaps the biggest factor in stifling Louisville’s offense in the second half of the title game. Maluach finished Saturday with eight points, 10 rebounds and two blocks, as he totaled 28 boards and eight blocks in three tournament games.
“I see it every day, and I know how valuable they are,” Scheyer said. “But you do have to step up to do more. Cooper just does so much for us. Kon’s really been our go-to guy. To see the versatility of other guys stepping up like Khaman. But I told them, you don’t have to do anything special. You have to do the simple things really well, and those special plays will naturally happen, and that’s exactly what happened for Khaman and Kon.”
If there was any doubt about Flagg’s true impact, though, it was seen less in the fact that Duke held the trophy at the end of this tournament than in how it happened. In the regular season, Duke won 13 of its 20 ACC games by 20 points or more. In Charlotte, it trailed Georgia Tech at the half, nearly blew a huge lead against North Carolina and had to come back from a halftime deficit against Louisville on Saturday.
Flagg wasn’t the difference, but he did provide a healthy margin. Learning to live without that, Scheyer said, could be crucial as the Blue Devils move on to their next, bigger goal.
“We’ve approached the whole year to finish what’s right in front of you,” Scheyer said. “For us to be tested these last three games the way we have, we’re going to learn a ton from it. It’s going to give us extra motivation and lessons to move forward.”
