Cooper Flagg helped off the court, put in wheelchair after ugly ankle injury

The Duke basketball team could not have dreamed of a worse start to the ACC Tournament on Thursday afternoon.

The regular season champions slept walked through the first 12 minutes of the first half, trailing by as many as 14 points and missing its first 13 attempts from 3-point range.

Then, standout defensive backup center Maliq Brown appeared to reinjure his previously dislocated shoulder on a defensive possession midway through the first half with 4:58 remaining and the Blue Devils trailing, 26-12,

Brown did not record any starts in his six minutes on the court.

Duke would find some offensive momentum to close the gap to five at halftime, 31-26, but it came at a cost as superstar freshman Cooper Flagg suffered a nasty ankle injury that forced him to go back to the locker room early.

Flagg could not put any weight on his left ankle and was carried by his teammates off the floor.

The ACC Player of the Year struggled in the opening half before leaving with his injury, totaling just two pints on 1-of-7 shooting from the floor with four rebounds, two steals, and a block. Duke was outscored by seven points in Flagg’s 15 minutes of action.

There has been no update given on the status of Cooper Flagg entering the second half but was seen in a wheel chair during halftime near the Duke locker room.

Duke was led in the first half by freshmen Kon Knueppel and Isaiah Evans, each scoring six points.

If Duke were to rally and defeat Georgia Tech, the Blue Devils would play on Friday evening (7:00 p.m. ET, ESPN) against either North Carolina or Wake Forest. Assuming it gets slotted in Raleigh, North Carolina for the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament it would play its first game on Friday. March 21.