Cooper Flagg fumbles Duke basketball chances at victory late against Kentucky

Cooper Flagg was brilliant for nearly the entire game for the Duke basketball team against Kentucky on Tuesday night until the final 30 seconds.

The freshman kept a gassed Blue Devil squad hanging around after blowing a nine-point, 46-37, halftime lead and had the chance to create his signature college basketball moment with 26.5 seconds left and the game tied at 72.

It felt obvious who was getting the ball for Duke after Jon Scheyer called timeout. Maybe it was too obvious.

Flagg never gave the ball up. He backed his way into the paint and was stripped after briefly losing the handle on his dribble by Otega Oweh, who was fouled and made both free throws. The Duke rookie would have another opportunity after Kentucky took the lead but dribbled straight into the corner before the ball was knocked away by Amari Williams leading to a second straight turnovers.

The Wildcats, however, would give Duke another opportunity because with 5.1 seconds left Lamont Butler missed the back end of a one-and-one that kept the game within one possession, 75-72, but Flagg did not box out Oweh on the missed shot and he secured the 77-72 victory for Kentucky.

Cooper Flagg finished with 26 points and 12 rebounds.

Duke was stifled in the second half, scoring just 26 points after making only 29.4-percent of its attempts (10-of-34). The shooting numbers were horrific, connecting on 4-of-23 attempts from 3-point range (17.4-percent) after making 41.8-percent in its first two games.

Tyrese Proctor was invisible after halftime. He attempted just two shots after scoring 10 points in the first half and did not register a single statistic in the final 3:57.

Caleb Foster has a similar string of disappointing play with just four points on 2-of-9 shooting.

The only other Blue Devil who turned in a strong performance was freshman center Khaman Maluach, who ended the night with 10 points and seven rebounds. The rookie was hampered in the second half with a knee injury and cramping after being taken back to the locker room and limited to just 10 minutes after halftime.

Sion James also suffered an injury, which appeared to be much more severe. After being hit with a screen from Amari Williams, James immediately grabbed his shoulders and could not move it. He was brought back to the locker room and ruled out for the game. He did return to the bench to watch the final minutes.

Duke (2-1) will look to respond from its first defeat on Saturday (12:00 p.m. ET, ACC Network) against Wofford (1-1) before two more challenging games on the road against No. 9 Arizona and a date with No. 1 Kansas in Las Vegas.