The epic showdown between Louisville basketball and Duke in the ACC Tournament Championship game will take place tonight at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C.
The Cardinals open up as a six-point underdog to the Blue Devils. Louisville basketball is entering this matchup on an 11-game winning streak and is one of the hottest teams in America. Louisville basketball lost to the Blue Devils, 76-65, earlier in the season in the KFC Yum! Center.
Louisville will look for revenge in the ACC Tournament championship game against Duke and will hope to secure history. However, in order for the Cardinals to earn their first ACC crown, they will have to avoid this tempting trap and all the outside noise.
Louisville basketball must avoid this tempting trap
The headline of this matchup is that Duke's All-American and future NBA star, Cooper Flagg, will be out. The Cardinals must not listen to the noise or think ahead and realize this Duke team is still as real as it gets, even without Flagg.
Flagg led the Blue Devils in scoring this season with 19.1 points per game while also securing 7.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.3 blocks, and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 48.8 percent from the field and 37 percent from beyond the arc.
It is a huge advantage for Louisville that Flagg won't play, but the Cardinals can't fall into the trap and think they have this game already won, or believe this will be some walk in the park. Duke saw five players score in double digits in the ACC semifinals, including leading scorer Kon Knueppel with 17 points.
Knueppel is a lethal shooter from downtown, as he shot 60 percent against UNC last night and is shooting 38.2 percent from downtown on the year. The freshman guard is 6-foot-7, has made 71 three-pointers on the year, and is averaging a little more than two three-pointers a game.
Other key players on Duke's roster include Tyrese Proctor, Sion James, and Khaman Maluach. This Duke roster is deep and athletic and is one of the best offenses in the league. Despite not having Cooper Flagg in the lineup, the Cardinals fans can't overthink or overlook this game.
Louisville basketball is just one win away from history, and if the Cardinals want to make this happen, it will have to take the whole 25-strong to secure the program's first-ever ACC crown. Tip-off is tonight at 8:30 p.m. local time on ESPN.