CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) Kon Knueppel scored 28 points as No. 1 Duke overcame injuries to star Cooper Flagg and Maliq Brown to beat Georgia Tech 78-70 on Thursday and advance to the ACC Tournament semifinals.
Isaiah Evans scored 14 points on four 3-pointers and Khaman Maluach added 14 points and nine rebounds for the Blue Devils (29-3), who have won nine straight.
Flagg appeared to land awkwardly on Baye Ndongo’s foot as he came down with a rebound late in the first half. The ACC player of the year retreated to the Duke bench and punched a seat in frustration. After being helped to the locker room, Flagg returned to the Duke bench in the second half without a boot on his foot. He did not return to the game.
Brown went down with a shoulder injury in the first half.
Duncan Powell led Georgia Tech (17-16) with 24 points.
Duke missed its first 13 shots from beyond the arc and fell behind 26-12, matching the season’s largest deficit. They trailed 26-17 when Flagg left the game, but cut the lead to five at halftime. Duke pushed its lead to seven early in the second half when Tyrese Proctor stole a pass and delivered a high-flying one-handed dunk in transition.
Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets bench was outscored 21-6.
Duke: The Blue Devils showed they have some firepower without Flagg and Brown on the court. After missing its first 13 3s, Duke went 7 of 17 the rest of the way.
Knueppel drove, scored and drew a foul for a 3-point play with about five minutes left in the game to put Duke up by 11.
Georgia Tech was outscored 28-12 to start the second half.
Georgia Tech can hope for an NIT bid. Duke will face the North Carolina, a 68-59 winner over Wake Forest, on Friday.
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| TOP SCORERS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
31
 |
D. Powell F | 24PTS | 6REB | 2AST | |
|
7
 |
K. Knueppel G | 28PTS | 5REB | 8AST | |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| D. Sutton | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| I. Souare | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| R. Mutombo | – | – | – | – |
| E. Nichols | – | – | – | – |
| M. San Miguel | – | – | – | – |
| D. Thompson | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 70 | 28 | 14 | 18 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| K. Knueppel | 28 | 5 | 8 | 1 |
| K. Maluach | 14 | 9 | 0 | 3 |
| S. James | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| T. Proctor | 6 | 5 | 3 | 1 |
| C. Flagg | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| I. Evans | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| P. Ngongba II | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| M. Brown | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Foster | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| M. Gillis | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| S. Hubbard | – | – | – | – |
| S. Borden | – | – | – | – |
| D. Harris | – | – | – | – |
| N. Begovich | – | – | – | – |
| C. Sheffield | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 78 | 35 | 14 | 10 |