Duke's Cooper Flagg injures left ankle, out of ACC tourney quarterfinal

CHARLOTTE -- Duke freshman Cooper Flagg injured his left ankle with 2:46 remaining in the first half of the ACC Tournament quarterfinal against Georgia Tech on Thursday and was helped off the court by teammates.

Flagg, the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, returned to the Blue Devils' bench under his own power without crutches or a walking boot.

Flagg left his feet to gather a defensive rebound and landed awkwardly on his left leg, immediately grabbing his upper-ankle and lower left shin area. He was ruled out of the game, the top-ranked Blue Devils' first in the conference tournament Thursday morning.

At halftime, ESPN's cameras showed Flagg being pushed in a wheelchair in the locker room area toward the X-ray room. He later was seen walking without assistance.

Georgia Tech led by as many as 13 in the first half and was up 26-17 when Flagg went out, and the Yellow Jackets took a 31-26 lead into the half over Duke. That was the largest halftime deficit of the season for the Blue Devils.

Before the injury, Flagg had two points on 1-for-7 shooting but had four rebounds, two steals and one blocked shot.

Duke missed its first 11 3-point attempts and shot just 2-for-16 from 3-point range in the first half but came out after halftime on a 21-9 run to take a 48-40 lead with 11:03 left in the second half.

Flagg came to his feet, but quickly lifted his left foot off the ground to balance on one leg and celebrate with teammates as the Blue Devils built a 54-43 advantage at the under-8 timeout in the second half.

The standout freshman, 18, is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.

Flagg ranks among the conference's top 10 this season in points (third, 19.4/game), rebounds (eighth, 7.6), assists (eighth, 4.2), steals (10th, 1.5) and blocks (eighth, 1.3).

--Field Level Media