ACC Player of the Year Cooper Flag is excluded for Duke’s Conference Tournament Semifinal Matchup with North Carolina on Friday night in Charlotte.
Flag spray its left ankle under the first half of Duke’s Quarter final Victory over Georgia Tech on Thursday and did not return to the game. Head coach Jon Scheyer said that flag was a “long shot” to play Friday and pointed to the big picture – next week’s NCAA tournament – as a guide to make all decisions on the flag’s status.
-rays taken at Stadion Thursday were negative, Scheyer confirmed, but significant swelling was an immediate concern.
Flag was on average 18.9 points (third in the ACC), 7.5 returns (ninth) and 4.1 assists (eighth) as the spotlight fix for Duke’s top-ranked beginner class.
No. 1 Duke (29-3) will also be without forward Maliq Brown, who had eight points, three returns and three assists against takes Heels last week in Blue Devils ’82 -69 victory at Chapel Hill. Brown received a repeated transfer of his left shoulder on Thursday afternoon and was taken to the hospital.
Taking Heels has won eight of his last nine matches, with his lone loss in the regular season final against Blue Devils. North Carolina is 9-14 all the time against Duke in the ACC tournament.
-Field level media
