Cooper Flagg and Maliq Brown miss
No. 1 Duke's win against rival UNC in ACC semifinals
[March 15, 2025]
By AARON BEARD
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Cooper Flagg and Maliq Brown stood at the
back edge of Duke’s huddle, wearing black warmup outfits on their
lean frames and peering inside as Jon Scheyer directed their
teammates against rival North Carolina.
The good news? The top-ranked Blue Devils held on to win that
Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament semifinal despite Flagg and
Brown only able to watch from the outside due to injuries, getting
valuable performances from down-the-rotation players Patrick Ngongba
and Caleb Foster in bigger minutes.
The bad? They'll be shorthanded with both out again for Saturday's
championship against No. 13 Louisville. And things didn't exactly to
plan without Flagg and Brown, with Duke blowing nearly all of a
24-point lead in the final 17 before holding on to beat the Tar
Heels 74-71 in a game that could be remembered for a critical late
mistake by UNC that negated a tying free throw.
“I'm not sure I'm going to be able to give you the best rundown of
that game,” Scheyer said after Friday night's win. “It's still a
blur to me."
The 6-foot-9 Flagg, a freshman star and potential No. 1 overall NBA
draft pick whenever he goes pro, and Brown, a versatile defender,
were ruled out with a little less than two hours before tipoff. Both
players were hurt in Thursday's quarterfinal against Georgia Tech,
with Flagg spraining his left ankle and Brown re-injuring a
dislocated left shoulder.
Neither player was expected to play, both due to the nature of the
injuries and the start of March Madness looming next week with Duke
as a Final Four favorite. That tension was present again Friday
night as Scheyer went ahead and ruled out Flagg — “He's not going to
play tomorrow, he can't play,” Scheyer said — while noting Brown
won't return “anytime soon."
Duke (30-3) responded in its first test without them, at least.
“Obviously we're a much better team with them,” graduate guard Sion
James said. “But we've got guys.”
Flagg's health, and specifically his gait, was the center of
attention from the moment he arrived at Spectrum Center with
teammates about two hours before tipoff against the Tar Heels. The
6-foot-9 freshman, named Tuesday as the ACC player and newcomer of
the year by The Associated Press, walked with no boot and no major
limp on the way to the locker room.
He kept his hands in his pockets as he walked with his every step
being documented by TV cameras and photographers, a nod to his
status as a potential No. 1 overall NBA draft pick whenever he
decides to go pro.
Brown arrived with his left arm in a sling after being taken to a
hospital for evaluation Thursday.
Both were on the bench for this one throughout, with Flagg wrapping
a white Gatorade towel around his neck and occasionally sharing his
insights on what was happening during game action.
“Coop was just telling me what he saw on the floor,” junior guard
Tyrese Proctor said. “Obviously his IQ is really good.”
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Duke forward Cooper Flagg, left, and forward Maliq Brown watch from
the bench during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game
against North Carolina in the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast
Conference tournament, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Charlotte, N.C.
Flagg and Brown were injured yesterday. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
In the meantime, Duke got a lift from Ngongba and
Foster in their larger roles behind James, Proctor, Kon Knueppel and
big man Khaman Maluach.
Ngongba, a 6-11 freshman, finished with a career-high 12 points on
6-for-6 shooting to go with three rebounds and a block in 17
minutes. That included three dunks, some on lobs, and a score in the
paint with 3:41 left and Duke trying to hold off the Tar Heels.
"He just said in the film (session) last night, he just said people
have got to be ready,” Ngongba said of Scheyer.
Then there was Foster, a guard who opened the year as a starter but
had seen his minutes dwindle in the season's final month. He
finished with six points, three rebounds and two steals in 16
minutes, making good on Scheyer's long-running promise that Duke
would need him at some point.
“It's just embracing and loving the journey with my teammates,” said
Foster, who had reached double figures in minutes only eight times
in 12 games before Friday night.
“It's up and down with minutes. We're winning. So that's all that
matters. If we're winning, minutes don't matter at the end of the
day.”
Flagg's versatility allows him to impact the game from anywhere on
the floor as a scorer (18.9), rebounder (7.5), playmaker (4.1
assists) and defender (1.3 blocks and 1.5 steals). Brown, a 6-9
forward, has defensive value going far beyond his modest stats with
his ability to move his feet, switch screens, defend multiple
positions and use his length to create deflections.
Brown showed that value in last weekend's win at UNC, when he
returned from a nearly three-week absence due to the previous
dislocated left shoulder.
Flagg and Brown have helped Duke stand as the nation's only team
ranked in the top five nationally in KenPom’s adjusted efficiency
metrics for offense (128.7 points per 100 possessions) and defense
(89.9) entering Friday night.
Yet the second half Friday illustrated how much smaller Duke's
margin for error will be without the duo. UNC shot 59.3% and scored
47 points after halftime, then very nearly completed the kind of
comeback that would live on in rivalry lore.
Still, Duke won anyway, just as it has nearly all season.
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