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Clemson locked out of locker room during halftime vs. Louisville in ACC Tournament

Grant Grubbs Profile Pictureby: Grant Grubbs03/15/25grant_grubbs_
Brad Brownell
© Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

Bad turned to worse for Clemson on Friday evening. The Tigers headed back toward their locker room after trailing Louisville 33-28 at halftime in the ACC Tournament semifinals, but found they’d been locked out and were forced to improvise.

Kelly Dickey posted a picture on X of Clemson’s team gathered in the hallway holding an impromptu halftime session without a whiteboard in sight. Clemson still looked in a funk when it returned to the court, allowing Louisville to start the second half on a 10-6 run.

It was far from an ideal showing for the Tigers in the first half. Clemson shot 13-32 (40.6%) from the field and 1-6 (16.6%) from beyond the arc. Tigers leading scorer Chase Hunter particularly struggled, only scoring four points in the first half.

For reference, Hunter is averaging 16.2 points per game this season. The Tigers will need Hunter to step up in the second half if they want to secure their first appearance in the ACC Tournament Championship since 2008.

Cooper Flagg out for the rest of the ACC Tournament

If Clemson makes it to the ACC Tournament Championship, it won’t have to worry about defending Duke freshman star Cooper Flagg. On Friday, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported Flagg is out for the remainder of the ACC Tournament.

Flagg sprained his ankle in Duke’s win over Georgia Tech on Thursday and didn’t play in the team’s win over North Carolina in the ACC Tournament semifinals. Duke almost missed out on competing in its conference championship game.

On Friday, the Blue Devils were just a play away from giving up a 24-point lead to the Tar Heels. However, the Blue Devils caught a stroke of luck when UNC forward Jae’Lyn Withers committed a lane violation on a potentially game-tying free-throw attempt.

The officials awarded Duke the ball and freshman Kon Kneuppel iced the game with two free throws. Although Flagg wasn’t able to contribute on the floor, he brought no shortage of energy to the sidelines, cheering on his teammates every moment of the game. 

It’s not necessarily a surprise that Flagg won’t be playing on Saturday. After the ACC Player of the Year went down with an injury on Thursday, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer didn’t seem eager to play Flagg again in the ACC Tournament.

“To be honest with you, I would have to be convinced by everyone in the locker room when I go back that he should play. It’s not worth it. It just isn’t,” Scheyer said, per The Athletic‘s Brendan Marks.