College Basketball
·

Duke beats Louisville to win ACC title and make case for No. 1 seed in NCAA tournament

Duke didn’t need Cooper Flagg to win the ACC tournament.

The Blue Devils made a strong case for the top seed in the NCAA tournament with a 73-62 win over Louisville in the ACC tournament title game on Saturday. It’s the first time Duke has won the regular-season ACC title and the conference tournament in the same season since 2006.

Flagg didn’t play Duke’s final two games in the ACC tournament after rolling his left ankle against Georgia Tech on Thursday. The Blue Devils survived North Carolina’s second-half onslaught on Friday and pulled away in the second half on Saturday without him.

[Yahoo Fantasy Bracket Mayhem is back: Enter for a shot to win up to $50K]

Tyrese Proctor and Kon Knueppel starred as the Blue Devils used a 12-0 run in the early moments of the second half to flip a 38-33 halftime deficit into a 57-47 advantage with 11:08 to go. From there, Duke simply had to hold serve and Louisville couldn’t mount a comeback.

After shooting 55% in the first half, Louisville was ice-cold in the second half. The Cardinals were 27% from the field over the final 20 minutes.

Proctor finished with 19 points while Knueppel had 16.

Yes, the ACC wasn’t very good this season. The conference may get as few as three teams in the NCAA tournament on Selection Sunday. But that shouldn’t diminish Duke’s accomplishments in the tournament without Flagg and during the regular season with the star freshman.

The Blue Devils outscored their opponents by more than 20 points per game and lost just one ACC game all season. That came at Clemson in early February. The Tigers, the No. 3 seed in the conference, are one of those few tournament teams from the ACC.

Since that loss, Duke won 11 straight games and its escape against North Carolina was the only one-possession game in that stretch. The Blue Devils also played that game without junior forward Maliq Brown, who sat out Saturday’s game with a left shoulder injury.

If Duke doesn’t get the top seed in the NCAA tournament, it will go to Auburn, Florida or Houston. And you could understand why any of those teams would get it. Auburn won the regular-season title in the SEC and Florida can win the conference tournament on Sunday with a victory over Tennessee. The SEC has been the deepest and best conference in college basketball this season and will likely make history on Sunday with the number of teams that make the tournament. (Houston is an analytics darling and has its own case, but the Cougars have a head-to-head loss to the Tigers at home and fewer Quad 1 wins.)

Duke will be able to boast both a regular season and conference tournament title. And it can say it did the latter without its best player. That’s a pretty strong case for the selection committee.

LIVE COVERAGE IS OVER23 updates

  • Final: Duke 73, Louisville 62

    The Blue Devils just had too much talent for everybody else in the ACC all season. They cap off their season with a conference tournament title after dominating the league in historic fashion during the regular season.

  • Duke has taken a timeout up 10 with 1:05 left.

  • We’re at the 2-minute mark and this thing is all but wrapped up. The Blue Devils just have too many weapons, even with Cooper Flagg sidelined.

  • Duke making its case for No. 1 overall

    Duke has a 68-55 lead with 4:05 to go. The Blue Devils have made an impressive case for the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament.

  • Kon Knueppel has starred for Duke alongside Proctor. He has 16 points so far.

    Also, Patrick Ngongba just delivered this heads-up highlight:

  • It’s 62-51 Duke at the under-8 timeout. Louisville hasn’t been able to get back into the game after that Duke flurry. And the Cardinals are starting to run out of time.

  • Tyrese Proctor leads all Duke players with 15 points. He’s 5-of-11 from the field … and 5-of-11 from behind the arc.

  • Duke has taken this game over. It’s 57-47 with 11:08 to go. The Blue Devils went on a 12-0 run and their defense is playing on another level.

  • Duke has taken a 52-47 lead in Charlotte and it’s gotten raucous.

  • Terrence Edwards Jr. has hit two 3-pointers after that opening half airball. He’s carrying the Cardinals right now.

    Every time a team takes a lead, the other has an answer. It’s tied 45-45 with 14:28 to go.

  • The Cardinals’ five-point halftime lead disappeared in less than 90 seconds. It’s tied at 38-38

  • After leading all scorers in the first half, Terrence Edwards starts the second half with an airball

  • Louisville closes the half on a 7-0 run and has a 38-33 lead at the break. The Cardinals are shooting 55% from the field as Terrence Edwards Jr. has scored 15 points and hit three shots behind the arc.

  • We’re tied 28-28 at the final TV timeout of the half. Roughly half of the shots have been threes so far. Louisville is 4-of-11 — Chucky Hepburn is just 1-of-6 — and Duke is 5-of-13.

  • Duke leads 23-21 with 7:43 to go in the first half. The Blue Devils have three players with six points each. Chucky Hepburn has seven for Louisville.

  • Duke maintains a slim 17-15 lead into the under-12 timeout. This has been a fun and frenetic start.

  • Isaiah Evans has hit his first two 3-pointers for Duke as the Blue Devils lead 14-12 with 13:12 remaining in the first half.

  • Louisville is not fazed by the hostile environment. Duke leads 8-7 heading into the first TV timeout of the game.

  • Tipoff of the ACC title game is just minutes away. Louisville is having a heck of a first season under coach Pat Kelsey, while a win by Duke tonight without Maliq Brown and Cooper Flagg could cement the Blue Devils as the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament.

  • NCAA says Duke’s Cooper Flagg is expected to be available for March Madness

    CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 14: Cooper Flagg #2 of the Duke Blue Devils looks on from the bench in the first half against the North Carolina Tar Heels during the semifinal round of the ACC men's basketball tournament at Spectrum Center on March 14, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)

    Click the photo above to read the story. (Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)

This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.

Related
2020 © Zeen World News