Mar 8, 2025; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; Duke Blue Devils forward Cooper Flagg (2) reacts in the second half at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Cooper Flagg Injury Update: Duke Superstar Doubtful to Return To ACC Tournament Matchup vs Georgia Tech

Originally posted on Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on SI
By Jackson Caudell | Last updated Mar 13, 2025 1:13 PM ET

In what was a stunning first half that saw Georgia Tech lead No. 1 Duke for most of the way, the biggest news was that ACC Player of the Year and presumed No. 1 Pick in the upcoming NBA Draft Cooper Flagg went down with an injury in the first half and had to be helped over to the Duke bench and was then in a wheelchair heading to the locker room. According to CBS Sports Jon Rothstein, Flagg is doubtful to return to this game.

Duke’s Cooper Flagg (ankle) is doubtful to return to today’s ACC Tournament Game against Georgia Tech, per a school spokesman.

Maliq Brown (shoulder) is OUT.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 13, 2025

Cooper Flagg is in a wheelchair being taken to get examined. pic.twitter.com/qH1DCIOwCV
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) March 13, 2025

In the first half of the game against No. 1 Duke, Georgia Tech played phenomenal defense, limiting one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country to just 2-16 from deep. Duncan Powell had nine points, while Baye Ndongo had 11 points and three rebounds in the first half.

Duke (28-3, 19-1 ACC) lost its only ACC game at Clemson on Feb. 8, but has reeled off seven wins in a row since then by nearly 28 points a game. The closest game was an 80- 62 victory at Virginia on Feb. 17. The Blue Devils defeated the Yellow Jackets, 82-56, on Dec. 21 in Atlanta in the teams’ only regular season meeting. The winner of the Tech-Duke game will advance to face the winner of Wake Forest and North Carolina at 7 p.m. Friday in the semifinals.

Georgia Tech and Duke last met in the ACC Tournament in the championship game of the 2010 tournament in Greensboro, N.C. The Blue Devils won 65-61. Tech is 3-7 against the Blue Devils in the tournament, last defeating them in the opening round on the way to the championship of the 1993 event at the old Charlotte Coliseum. Tech is 2-4 vs. top-25 teams this season (including a win over Clemson, which was No. 21 in the coaches poll but unranked in AP at the time), and 5-5 under Damon Stoudamire.

Tech has defeated the nation’s No. 1-ranked team 8 times in its history. One of those wins came over Duke on Jan. 10, 1993 in Atlanta. Not surprisingly, 11 of the Jackets’ 35 losses to No. 1 teams have come against the Blue Devils. Duke is the first No. 1 team Tech has faced since Feb. 21, 2019 (Virginia), and the Yellow Jackets have dropped 4 straight against top-ranked teams dating back to a 77-61 win over Connecticut on Nov. 26, 2003 in the Preseason NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden.