No. 1 Duke primed for extended March Madness run after ACC Tournament win

No Cooper Flagg, no problem.

On Saturday, Associated Press No. 1 Duke (31-3, 19-1 in ACC) capped a dominant ACC season by winning the conference tournament, defeating No. 13 Louisville (27-7, 18-2 in ACC), 73-62.

The win was particularly noteworthy considering the Blue Devils were without potential Wooden Award winner Flagg, who suffered an ankle injury in Duke's quarterfinal win over Georgia Tech.

Duke, effectively guaranteed to be a No. 1 seed when the NCAA Tournament bracket is revealed on Sunday evening, came back from a five-point halftime deficit to win its 23rd ACC Tournament title, outscoring Louisville 40-24 in the second half. The Blue Devils limited the Cardinals to 9-of-35 on field goals after halftime, including 2-of-14 from beyond the arc.

The 2024-25 third-team All-ACC junior guard Tyrese Proctor led Duke with 19 points, with all six of his field goals coming from long range. Second-team All-ACC freshman guard Kon Knueppel added 18 points and eight rebounds, while transfer fifth-year senior guard and 2024-25 ACC All-Defense team member Sion James had 15 points.

Earlier on Saturday, Duke fans breathed a sigh of relief when NCAA senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt told CBS that Duke and the ACC had informed the NCAA that outstanding freshman forward Flagg would be available for the NCAA Tournament. (h/t Yahoo Sports)

Saturday evening's ACC Championship Game win was a reminder of the kind of talent Flagg will be returning to and a sign that Duke won't have to rely solely on the likely No. 1 overall pick of the 2025 NBA Draft to win its sixth national title.

Flagg leads the Blue Devils in several key statistical categories, including points (18.9), rebounds (7.5), assists (4.1), blocks (1.3) and steals (1.5) per game.

As formidable as Duke is with Flagg, Saturday showed that it's pretty good without him, too. 

That's a problem for the rest of the NCAA Tournament field.