Duke forward Cooper Flagg gets called for a foul as he pushes North Carolina guard Drake Powell (9) during the first half of a game Saturday. Chris Seward/Associated Press

The regular season couldn’t have gone much better for Cooper Flagg and the Duke men’s basketball team.

Flagg on Monday earned Atlantic Coast Conference Player and Rookie of the Year honors.

The Newport native is just the fourth player in ACC history to win both awards in the same season. Former Duke players Zion Williamson (2019), Marvin Bagley III (2018) and Jahlil Okafor (2015) also accomplished the feat.

Now it’s off to the postseason for Flagg and No. 1 Duke (28-3, 19-1 in the ACC), which wrapped up the league title with an 82-69 victory over nemesis North Carolina over the weekend.

Up first is the ACC tournament, where the Blue Devils will try for their 28th conference title and their second in three years, and look to wrap up a No. 1 seed for the NCAA tournament.

Last week

Flagg and the Blue Devils didn’t get much in the way of style points in the finale, as he fought through foul trouble and Duke saw a commanding start turn into a second-half deficit, but the team and its star freshman recovered well enough to shake off the Tar Heels and emerge with the ACC regular season title, Duke’s 24th.

Flagg scored 15 points with nine rebounds and six assists, with 10 of those points coming in the second half after he picked up three fouls in the first. Duke jumped out to a 36-21 lead, but R.J. Davis’ hot shooting sparked a Tar Heel comeback, and UNC took a 59-53 lead with 12:48 to play.

It was the high point for UNC, as Duke went on a game-changing 15-2 run. UNC looked to regain momentum with a 3-pointer that made it 68-64, only for Duke to score the next seven points and all but ice it.

“As good as Cooper is, and he’s what makes us go, we have guys who can go when he’s not there for us,” guard Sion James said. “Hopefully he doesn’t pick up three fouls every half. I wouldn’t advise that, but I’m proud of the other guys that stepped up in first half.”

This week

Thursday
Opponent: Georgia Tech or Virginia
Time: Noon
TV: ESPN or ESPN2

Noteworthy: Duke, the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament, has a bye to the quarterfinals and will play the winner of the game between No. 8 Georgia Tech and No. 9 Virginia. Duke took down both teams during the regular season, beating Georgia Tech 82-56 on Dec. 21 and Virginia 80-62 on Feb. 17.

If the Blue Devils win, they’ll play in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday on ESPN or ESPN2, against either UNC, Wake Forest, Notre Dame or Pittsburgh. A win there would send them on to the ACC championship game at 8:30 p.m. Saturday; the final will be broadcast on ESPN.