CHARLOTTE — While the perception exists that the Atlantic Coast Conference competition isn’t what it used to be, don’t tell that to the teams that will play Saturday night for the ACC tournament title.
It will be a marquee matchup in the championship game when No. 1-ranked Duke (30-3) and No. 13 Louisville (27-6) meet. Both have put together stellar seasons and hope for a long run in the NCAA Tournament.
And a conference tournament title, of course.
“Mindset is the biggest thing, and I want our guys to have that mindset of going for it,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “Just go for it. I remind them all the time, you’re right where you want to be.”
Duke will appear in the game for the 36th time and will pursue its 23rd tournament championship. Louisville, which joined the ACC in the 2013-14 season, is seeking its first.
Scheyer has the Blue Devils in the title game for the second time in his three seasons since succeeding longtime coach Mike Krzyzewski.
The final will lack the biggest name in college basketball this season as Duke freshman Cooper Flagg will sit out for the second game in a row with a sprained ankle.
But that doesn’t dismiss the magnitude of the matchup, with top-seeded Duke potentially snatching the overall No. 1 seed for the upcoming NCAA Tournament and second-seeded Louisville lining up for more in its bounce-back season after an 8-24 campaign in 2023-24.
“It’s pretty sweet,” Duke freshman Kon Knueppel said of playing in the title game after going 19-1 in the ACC regular season. “Good to get two wins (so far in the tournament) and play for the title. We’ll be ready, and it’s a great challenge to get a second championship here this season.”
Scheyer said Flagg’s condition has improved since the ACC Player of the Year’s departure in the first half of Duke’s tournament opener on Thursday against Georgia Tech. But the Blue Devils are looking at the big picture at this time in the season.
“He’s not going to play (Saturday),” Scheyer said. “He can’t play. But our goal is to have him ready for the (NCAA Tournament). We need to see how this weekend goes with the swelling and what he can do.”
Louisville coach Pat Kelsey acknowledged the impact on Duke playing without Flagg. But he said the Blue Devils have a lot of depth and talent.
“It’s like Noah’s Ark,” Kelsey said. “They have two of everything.”
Kelsey has the most wins as a first-year coach in Louisville history.
In the regular-season meeting between the teams, which was the ACC opener for both on Dec. 8, Duke came back from a 14-point hole to win 76-65 on the road.
In Friday’s ACC semifinals, both teams built sizable leads — 24 points for Duke and 15 points for Louisville — then had to hold on. Duke edged rival and fifth-seeded North Carolina 74-71, while Louisville prevailed 76-73 against third-seeded Clemson.
In clutch situations, the Blue Devils have things to sort out without Flagg on the court.
“We had some lineups in there we hadn’t had,” Scheyer said. “We were in a little bit different spots 30 games in. So some of the execution and the timing probably wasn’t to the level I’d want it to be.”
Louisville’s depth could be an issue as well. Chucky Hepburn, J’Vonne Hadley and Terrence Edwards Jr. all eclipsed the 37-minute mark against Clemson in what Kelsey called “the most physical game I’ve ever coached in. … Our guys were low on fumes there at the end of the game.”
To Hadley, playing for the ACC tournament championship is special.
“It means the world that we get the opportunity. It means we’ve been working for it since we all got together,” he said of the team, which Kelsey pieced together after his hiring last year. “None of us knew each other. Maybe a couple of us through Instagram. It just means the world. It shows us how far we’ve made it. We have so much further to go.”
— Bob Sutton, Field Level Media
