Duke coach Jon Scheyer said it’s a “real long shot” that freshman star Cooper Flagg will be able to play in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament semifinals because of an ankle sprain.

The 6-foot-9 Flagg rolled his left ankle in the first half of the top-ranked Blue Devils’ 78-70 quarterfinal win against Georgia Tech on Thursday in Charlotte, North Carolina. He hobbled off the court before heading to the locker room, then returned to the bench for the second half but didn’t play again.

Scheyer said Flagg was already dealing with swelling and said he’d “have to be really convinced we should even consider seeing if he can go” in the semifinals on Friday night. Scheyer said X-rays showed no fracture for Flagg, named Tuesday as The Associated Press league player and newcomer of the year.

“It’s not about being ready to go tomorrow,” Scheyer said. “That’s not the most important thing for us. We’ve got to see if we can get him right for this run we can make in the (NCAA) Tournament.

“But I would have to be really convinced that we should even consider seeing if he can go (Friday). He may not be able to go anyway. He probably won’t be able to go anyway. But I think it’s a real long shot.”

Against the eighth-seeded Yellow Jackets (17-16), Kon Knueppel scored 28 points to help No. 1 Duke overcome the injuries to Flagg and Maliq Brown.

The Blue Devils (29-3) have won nine straight.

Cougars catch fire: Richie Saunders scored 23 points, hitting a crucial 3-pointer with less than a minute to go, and No. 17 BYU overcame a big game from Curtis Jones in a 96-90 victory over No. 12 Iowa State in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament on Thursday in Kansas City, Missouri.

Fousseyni Traore added 15 points and Trevin Knell had 14 for the fourth-seeded Cougars (24-8), who went 18 of 36 from beyond the arc to set a tournament record for made 3-pointers, and advanced to the semifinals.

Jones hit seven 3s of his own and scored 31 points, and Milan Momcilovic had 18 for the fifth-seeded Cyclones (24-9), who had won their last four games at the Big 12 tourney, including their run to the championship a year ago.

Iowa State played without Keshon Gilbert, their second-leading scorer and top distributor, and point guard Tamin Lipsey, who had started all 101 games in his career. Gilbert tried to play through a muscle strain against Cincinnati but went only 11 minutes, while Lipsey strained his groin in the closing minutes of the second-round win.

Tickets punched: Kai Johnson scored six of his 23 points late to help No. 2 seed Montana beat top-seeded Northern Colorado 91-83 in the Big Sky Championship title game on Wednesday night in Boise, Idaho. Montana (25-9) collected its first NCAA Tournament bid since 2019. ... Matt Rogers scored 25 points and second-seeded American University defeated No. 5 seed Navy 74-52 to claim the Patriot League Tournament final on Wednesday in Washington. American has made three previous trips to the NCAA Tournament, the last in 2014.