Duke lost Cooper Flagg to a left ankle injury in the first half, then rallied behind freshman Kon Knueppel to defeat Georgia Tech, 78-70, in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals Thursday. Knueppel scored a career-high 28 points with eight assists and five rebounds in 39 minutes to power Duke to a 29th win,

Ahead of Duke 's Friday night contest against North Carolina, the Blue Devils were officially confirmed to be without superstar Cooper Flagg. The 18-year-old freshman injured his ankle earlier this week against Georgia Tech. "Cooper's made good progress, but he's just not there yet," coach Jon Scheyer

Kon Knueppel scored 17 points and No. 1 Duke held off a furious second half rally by rival North Carolina to beat its rival for the third time this season, 74-71 on Friday night to reach the Atlantic

CHARLOTTE - Kon Knueppel scored 17 points and No. 1 Duke, playing without star freshman Cooper Flagg, held on after building a 24-point lead, beating North Carolina 74-71 in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament semifinals on Friday night. North Carolina botched a late free-throw situation that could have given it the lead.

ACC Player of the Year Cooper Flagg was ruled out for Duke's conference tournament semifinal matchup with North Carolina on Friday night in Charlotte. Flagg sprained his left ankle in the first half of Duke's quarterfinal victory over Georgia Tech on Thursday and did not return to the game.