Cooper Flagg was not necessary for Duke to win the ACC tournament.
The Blue Devils defeated Louisville 73-62 in the ACC tournament championship game on Saturday, solidifying their claim to the top seed in the NCAA tournament. For the first time since 2006, Duke has won both the conference tournament and the ACC regular-season championship in the same season.
Flagg rolled his left ankle against Georgia Tech on Thursday, which prevented him from playing in Duke’s last two ACC tournament games. Without him, the Blue Devils pulled away in the second half of Saturday’s game after surviving North Carolina’s onslaught in the second half on Friday.
The Blue Devils, led by Tyrese Proctor and Kon Knueppel, went on a 12-0 run in the first few minutes of the second half to turn a 38-33 halftime deficit into a 57-47 lead with 11:08 remaining. After that, Duke just needed to hold serve, and Louisville was unable to rally.
In the second half, Louisville was completely dominant after shooting 55% in the first. For the last twenty minutes, the Cardinals shot 27 percent from the field.
Knueppel had 16 points at the end, while Proctor had 19.
Duke’s argument for No. 1 overall
Yes, the ACC had a poor season. Selection Sunday may see as few as three teams from the conference advance to the NCAA tournament. However, that shouldn’t take away from Duke’s success in the regular season with Flagg and in the tournament without him.
The Blue Devils only dropped one ACC game this season and outscored their opponents by more than 20 points per contest. That occurred in early February at Clemson. One of the few ACC tournament teams is the Tigers, who are ranked third in the conference.
Duke has won 11 games in a row since that defeat, and the only one-possession game during that run was its escape against North Carolina. Maliq Brown, a junior forward, missed Saturday’s game due to a left shoulder injury, therefore the Blue Devils were also without him for that match.
Duke will lose to Auburn, Florida, or Houston in the NCAA tournament if it does not receive the top seed. And it would make sense for either of those clubs to receive it. Florida may win the conference tournament on Sunday if they defeat Tennessee, and Auburn earned the SEC regular-season championship. This season, the SEC has been the strongest and deepest league in college basketball, and the number of teams that qualify for the tournament on Sunday is probably going to make history. (Houston has its own argument and is a darling in analytics, but the Cougars have fewer Quad 1 victories and a home loss to the Tigers.)
Duke will be able to claim a conference tournament championship in addition to a regular season championship. And without its best player, it may boast that it achieved the latter. The selecting committee has a compelling argument there.
