No. 1 Duke is warded off by Unc Rally, does the ACC title game | National

Charlotte-Kon Knueppel scored 17 points and No. 1 Duke without Star Freshman Cooper Flagg, who defeated on Friday evening after building 24 points in North Carolina 74-71 in the semi-finals of the Atlantic Coast Conference. North Carolina placed a late free throw situation that could have given her the leadership. The Khaman Maluach from Duke had 13 points and nine rebound before it turned out, and Sion James added 12 points. The season height of Patrick Ngongba II. 12 points from the bank were also a boost for the Blue Devils. Flagg missed his first game of the season after suffering a bricked up ankle against Georgia Tech in the first half of the quarter -finals on Thursday. The top seeded Duke (30-3) meets the second seed in the championship on Saturday evening either on No. 10 Clemson, the third seed or No. 13 Louisville. Ven-Allen Lubin Goss entered 20 points and Elliot Cadeau had 15 for the fifth seed North Carolina (22-12), which had lost for the second time in the last 10 games. Both defeats came to Duke. The Blue Devils won all three meetings against North Carolina this season, including two on seven nights. North Carolina, who played his third game in three days after defeating Notre Dame and Wake Forest, trimmed a 24-point deficit to 56-44 with more than 11 1/2 minutes. The leadership of Dukes was 70-64 when a time crossing called for more than four minutes to play. Then Cadeaus Korb brought the Tar Heels within 72-68. Drake Powell made a free throw and then missed a potential 3 pointer at about one minute. Seth Trimble’s two free throws on the 32.2 second mark closed the gap to 72-71. Dukes Tyrese Proctor then missed the front at the end of a 1-1 with 21.7 seconds. But Lubin missed a potential binding free throw, then the Tar Heels committed a lane injury to negate his second attempt with 4.1 seconds. Knueppel sank two free throws with 2.8 seconds on the clock. Duke, who was commissioned by a 15-0 run until the first half, had a half in 45 to 24 half. North Carolina has not scored a goal with its last eight possessions. Duke jumped in the lead with 27-17 when the Tar Heels went 0: 7 with 3 points. Knueppel’s third 3-point basket In three attempts, the Blue Devils helped a 30-21 edge. At halftime, North Carolina was 1: 10 on 3-converter. Duke was also without a reserve striker Maliq Brown (shoulder). -Bob Sutton, Field Level Media