2025 ACC Tournament: No. 1 Duke beats Louisville 73-62 to win its 23rd ACC tourney

Tyrese Proctor scored 19 points on six 3-pointers, Kon Knueppel added 18 points and No. 1 Duke defeated 13th-ranked Louisville 73-62 on Saturday night to clinch its second Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship in three seasons under Jon Scheyer.

It was Duke's 23rd ACC title overall - the most of any team in conference history - and five more than rival North Carolina, who the Blue Devils knocked off 74-71 in a semifinal thriller.

Sion James added 15 points for Duke (31-3), which played its final two tournament games without ACC player of the year Cooper Flagg and Maliq Brown due to injuries.

Terrence Edwards Jr. scored 29 points on five 3s for Louisville (27-7), which was playing in its first ACC final since joining the league in 2014. The Cardinals went 18-2 in the conference play during the regular season under first-year head coach Pat Kelsey after going 5-37 vs. ACC foes in the previous two seasons.

There were nine lead changes and neither team led by more than five before Duke broke the game open with a 12-0 run midway through the second half behind a 3 from Proctor in transition to build a 57-47 lead.

Takeaways

Louisville: Hepburn has been the team's offensive catalyst this season, but Edwards' recent play gives the Cardinals the needed scoring punch that could takes them deep into the NCAA Tournament. Edwards has averaged 24.8 points over the last six games.

Duke: The Blue Devils defense in the tournament was outstanding. They held Louisville to 9-of-35 shooting in the second half to pull away.

Key moment

Patrick Ngongba II's spinning drive along the baseline and two free throws on the ensuing drive gave Duke a 13-point lead with less than five minutes to play.

Key stat

Proctor entered the game 6 of 29 from beyond the arc over his last seven games, including 0 for 10 in the tournament.

Up next

Both teams await their seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

No. 1 Duke Blue Devils will face No. 13 Louisville Cardinals Saturday in the ACC championship. The game starts at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN.

Bottom Line

The Blue Devils are 21-1 against ACC opponents and 8-2 in non-conference play. Duke has a 1-1 record in games decided by less than 4 points.

The Cardinals are 20-2 in ACC play. Louisville is third in the ACC with 25.2 defensive rebounds per game led by J'Vonne Hadley averaging 5.2.

Duke scores 83.3 points, 14.6 more per game than the 68.7 Louisville gives up. Louisville has shot at a 45.7% rate from the field this season, 7.3 percentage points higher than the 38.4% shooting opponents of Duke have averaged.

The teams meet for the second time this season. The Blue Devils won 76-65 in the last matchup on Dec. 8. Cooper Flagg led the Blue Devils with 20 points, and Terrence Edwards led the Cardinals with 21 points.

Will Cooper Flagg play tonight?

Duke's head coach Jon Scheyer confirmed Friday that Flagg will not play in Saturday.

The star freshman left Thursday's win over Georgia Tech late in the first half after rolling his ankle. Flagg has a severe sprain that will keep him out of the title matchup.

"He's doing better," Scheyer said. "All the imaging came back negative, but he sprained it pretty good. It's a good sprain. I'm not breaking any news. He's not going to play (Saturday)."

ESPN and Associated Press contributed to this report.

Terrence Edwards scored 21 points, J'Vonne Hadley added 20 points and nine rebounds and No. 13 Louisville beat No. 10 Clemson 76-73 on Friday night in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament semifinals.

Chucky Hepburn, the hero of Louisville's dramatic 75-73 quarterfinal win over Stanford, added 12 points for the Cardinals (27-6).

Chase Hunter had 23 points for Clemson (27-6), while Ian Schieffelin had 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Louisville is seeking its first ACC title on Saturday night, but No. 1 Duke, which held on to beat North Carolina 74-71 in the other semifinal, stands in its way.

The Cardinals held Clemson without a field goal for more than six minutes in the second half to built a 67-52 lead with 3:50 left.

But the Tigers cut their deficit to two with 54 seconds remaining on a layup from Hunter, who had 19 second-half points. After Louisville was called for a shot-clock violation, Clemson had the ball and chance to tie or take the lead.

But James Scott blocked Hunter's drive after switching off his man.

Hepburn made 1 of 2 free throws with 6 seconds left to make a three-point game and Hunter's leaning 3-point shot from 25 feet at the buzzer missed.

Takeaways

Clemson: The Tigers showed toughness battling back late in the fourth quarter and could prove to be a tough out in the NCAA Tournament.

Louisville: The Cardinals may have shown a vulnerability as the Tigers were able to turn them over repeatedly with a full court press down the stretch.

Key moment

Scott's block on Hunter's layup was the game's biggest play, although Clemson was left screaming for a foul.

Key stat

There were 41 fouls called in the game.

Up next

Clemson will await seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Kon Knueppel scored 17 points and No. 1 Duke held off a furious second half rally by rival North Carolina to beat the Tar Heels for the third time this season, 74-71 on Friday night to reach the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship game.

Khaman Maluach added 13 points and nine rebounds, and Sion James had 12 points for the Blue Devils, who played without star Cooper Flagg.

• Box Score

Duke (30-3) will play the winner of the second semifinal between No. 10 Clemson and No. 13 Louisville in the title game.

After North Carolina cut a 24-point, second-half deficit to one, Ven-Allen Lubin had two free throws with 4.1 seconds left to potentially give the Tar Heels (22-13) the lead. But he missed the first and had the second made free throw waived off after teammate Jae-Lyn Withers stepped in the lane too early.

Knueppel made two free throws with 2.8 seconds left and Lubin missed a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer.

It's the first time since 2001-02 that Duke has beaten North Carolina three times in a season.

The Blue Devils swept the Tar Heels in the regular season that year and then beat them in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals en route to winning the national championship.

Lubin had 20 points and 10 rebounds for North Carolina.

The Tar Heels simply don't have the size to match up with the Blue Devils, even without Flagg, but showed plenty of heart with the comeback

Meanwhile, the Blue Devils showed they have plenty of punch and more than enough defense despite being without Flagg and top reserve Maliq Brown.

Withers stepping the lane too early was a monumental mistake and took the air out of what had been a remarkable Carolina comeback. UNC started the second half 15 of 24 from the field.

Now, the Tar Heels sit and wait for Selection Sunday, hoping to hear their name called for the NCAA tournament.

The Associated Press contributed.