CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Duke couldn’t even lift the first half of the ACC tournament.
Not because the Blue Devils chased 31-26 to Georgia Tech on a break, but National Player of the Year nominee Starfreshman Forward Cooper Flag had to quickly help from the court with a twist of his left ankle at 2:46 until halftime. Flag jumped to grab a rebound when it appeared to land on his teammate’s feet, at which point he was crumpled to the ground.
After his teammates helped him off the floor, Flag helped him return to the Blue Devils locker room before slamming his fist into his chair on the Duke sideline. The 6-foot-9 main native was seen in a wheelchair looking for x-rays.
Duke ruled out Flag for the rest of the game, but he rejoined his teammates on Duke’s bench for about five minutes into the second half.
Cooper Flag is backing up and walking, but has been ruled out for the rest of the game with an ankle injury. pic.twitter.com/94bgnthgwy
– ESPN (@espn) March 13, 2025
His injuries now loom large in the future of Duke’s ACC and NCAA Tournament.
Flag’s injury was the second in the first half of the Blue Devils team’s favorites to win the national title. It’s coming just minutes after forward Malik Brown, who already missed nine games this season due to injuries, has been reinjured with a recent shoulder injury. Perhaps the fourth-best defense and most versatile defender in the country, Brown was competing for the shot when it appeared to have reorganized a shoulder injury. As soon as the injury occurred, I put a “F-” on my Duke trainer in my mouth and immediately returned to Duke’s locker room for treatment.
Duke also ruled out Brown for the game and he was taken out of the stretcher arena. His status in the NCAA Tournament is unknown.
Timing never got worse for Duke. Duke won the full ACC regular season title on Saturday with his 19th ACC victory. The Blue Devils were a heavy favorite to double their conference titles in this week’s league tournament, but then they won the No. 1 seed in Sunday’s selection. Coach John Schaer’s third team was clearly his best, giving the Blue Devils a real chance to win their first national championship in 2015 when they were healthy.
Though Thursday’s defeat to Georgia Tech did not derail those dreams, the pair of injuries in FLAGG, who leads the team in all major statistical categories can do so. Without Flag and Brown, Shayer turned his eyes to the big freshman Patrick Ngomba and alumni Mason Gillis, and in the final minutes of the first half, Duke reduced his 12-point deficit to five on a break.
This is a developing story. More coming.
(Photo: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)
