CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Confetti canons are armed, the ACC Tournament trophy has arrived and the automatic bid to March Madness will be given to one of the two best teams in the ACC.
But which one will it be? Duke and Louisville have played just one other time during the regular season — a 10-point game the Blue Devils won back in December. Both teams weathered significant second half comebacks in their semifinals games, but managed to win by one possession.
Here’s a brief look at the championship matchup.
Game Information
Who: No. 1 Duke (a) vs. No. 2 Louisville (a)
When: Saturday, March 15 at 8:30 p.m. EST
Watch: ESPN
Latest on Duke basketball:
The top-seeded Blue Devils cruised their way to the semifinals round, beating Georgia Tech handily and stealing a one-point win from North Carolina to reach their second ACC Championship game in Jon Scheyer’s three seasons as head coach.
Duke entered the conference tournament on an eight-game winning streak, with its lone loss in ACC play coming against Clemson on Feb. 8.
But the Blue Devils won’t have Cooper Flagg or Maliq Brown at their disposal. Scheyer confirmed following his semifinals win over North Carolina that both of Duke’s star players won’t participate in the championship game. Flagg left the quarterfinals round early with an ankle injury Scheyer later said was a sprain. Flagg sat on the bench during the semifinals game as well. Brown also left the quarterfinals round early with a re-dislocation of his shoulder, Scheyer said. Brown was taken to a Charlotte hospital during the game for pain, and the Duke head coach didn’t give a specific timeline for his veteran forward.
Latest on Louisville basketball:
The Cardinals’ fairytale season continues with their first-ever appearance in the ACC Championship game.
Louisville played the comeback card in its quarterfinals round against Stanford, with Chucky Hepburn sealing the win with a buzzer-beating jump shot in the final seconds. The Cardinals then beat an 11-2 second half run by Clemson in the final 90 seconds of the semifinals round.
The Cardinals haven’t played with Reyne Smith throughout the ACC Tournament, who’s been out with an ankle injury.
Those two tournament games had Terrence Edwards Jr. has Lousiville’s leading scorer, who scored 21 against Clemson in the semifinals. The former Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year averages 16.2 points per game this season, and four of his last five games he’s scored at least 21 points.
Game prediction: Duke by four
The Cardinals aren’t going to make things easy for Duke, who showed a few flaws in its game plan without Flagg and Brown. However, Tyrese Proctor and Kon Knueppel have been an exceptional duo for the Blue Devils and can make a final push to secure the program’s 23rd ACC Tournament Title.