Duke star Flagg exits with ankle injury, ruled out
Duke freshman star Cooper Flagg was helped off the court with a left ankle injury late in the first half and will not return to the No. 1 Blue Devils’ ACC tournament game against Georgia Tech on Thursday.
Flagg, who was seen being taken to the X-ray room in a wheelchair at halftime, walked back to the bench under his own power early in the second half, but will not return to the game, the school said.
The top-ranked Blue Devils were trailing by 26-17 late in the first half when Flagg went up for an uncontested rebound and crashed to the floor after he appeared to have his left foot land on the foot of Georgia Tech’s Darrion Sutton.
Flagg, the ACC’s player of the year and newcomer of the year, hobbled back to the bench in clear distress, then bent over with his hands on the seats and pounded a chair with his right fist.
After sitting on the bench for a few minutes, Flagg got up, put his arms around two teammates and was taken to the locker room for observation.
The Blue Devils also lost Maliq Brown to a shoulder injury in the first half, with the team ruling him out.
Duke was projected as the likely No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament coming into the game after taking over the top spot in the rankings this week. The Blue Devils had won eight straight games before the ACC tournament.
Flagg averaged 19.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists for the Blue Devils (28-3) during the regular season.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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