Duke fans greet Sion James and Kon Knueppel as they come off the court after warming up before Duke’s game against Louisville in the finals of the 2025 ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C., Saturday, March 15, 2025. Ethan Hyman [email protected]
Charlotte
News & Observer writers Steve Wiseman and Luke DeCock, as well as Charlotte Observer writers Alex Zietlow and Scott Fowler, will be sending along notes and analysis from the Duke-Louisville ACC Tournament final in Charlotte. See those updates below. Refresh this link for updates.
As No. 1 Duke is battling No. 13 Louisville in Saturday’s ACC Tournament final in Charlotte without league player of the year Cooper Flagg, the Blue Devils fully expect the star freshman to be back for the NCAA Tournament.
During an interview on CBS earlier Saturday, NCAA senior vice president for basketball Dan Gavitt said Duke and the ACC informed the committee the 6-9 forward’s ankle injury should not prevent him from playing next week. Gavitt provided the information in response to a question about if Flagg’s injury could impact Duke’s seeding.
Flagg, who leads Duke (30-3) in scoring (18.9 points), rebounding (7.5), assists (4.1), steals (1.5) and blocked shots (1.2) per game, sprained his left ankle early in the Blue Devils’ 78-70 quarterfinal win over Georgia Tech at the Spectrum Center on Thursday. Subsequent X-rays showed no broken bones and he was diagnosed with a sprained ankle. He’s not been in uniform for Duke’s 74-71 semifinal win over North Carolina or the championship game. Prior to the injury, Flagg had started every game for the Blue Devils this season.
Dick Vitale on the call
Longtime ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale arrived at the Spectrum Center on Saturday to call the ACC championship game. The 85-year-old Vitale, who has battled cancer for the past four years and has been declared cancer free, had not called a game since the 2023 Final Four before returning to call Clemson’s 77-71 win over Duke on Feb. 8 at Littlejohn Coliseum.
A week later, he made a return appearance at Cameron Indoor Stadium to call Duke’s 106-70 win over Stanford. During pregame that day, he rang a bell on the court to signify the successful end of his cancer treatments.
ACC tournament schedule
At Spectrum Center, Charlotte
Tuesday’s games
Game 1: No. 12 Notre Dame 55, No. 13 Pittsburgh 54
Game 2: No. 15 California 82, No. 10 Virginia Tech 73, 2OT
Game 3: No. 14 Syracuse 66, No. 11 Florida State 62
Wednesday’s games
Game 4: No. 8 Georgia Tech 66, No. 9 Virginia 60
Game 5: No. 5 UNC 76, No. 12 Notre Dame 56
Game 6: No. 7 Stanford 78, No. 15 Cal 73
Game 7: No. 6 SMU 73, No. 14 Syracuse 53
Thursday’s quarterfinals
Game 8: No. 1 Duke 78, No. 8 Georgia Tech 70
Game 9: No. 5 North Carolina 68, No. 4 Wake Forest 59
Game 10: No. 2 Louisville 75, No. 7 Stanford 73
Game 11: No. 3 Clemson 57, No. 6 SMU 54
Friday’s semifinals
Game 12: No. 1 Duke 74, No. 5 North Carolina 71
Game 13: No. 2 Louisville 76, No. 3 Clemson 73
Saturday’s championship game
Game 14: No. 1 Duke (30-3) vs. No. 2 Louisville (27-6), 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)
