Cooper Flagg is the focal point of the Duke basketball team but the Blue Devils had to win on Sunday night against Louisville without its superstar freshman.
Flagg, for the first time in his college career, battled foul trouble in the second half, picking up his fourth foul with 10:36 remaining and Duke trailing by four, 54-50. It felt like the Blue Devils were going to let its comeback bid slip through its fingers until it caught fire.
Mason Gillis replaced Flagg and Duke couldn’t miss, rattling off nine consecutive made field goals and stunning the Cardinal faithful.
The Blue Devils turned its deficit into an 8-point lead, 68-60, when Flagg returned with 4:42 left. It was an 18-4 run with the ACC Player of the Year favorite and National Player of the Year contender on the bench that led to the 76-65 victory.
Still, Cooper Flagg left his mark on the game by finishing with 20 points and 12 rebounds, his fourth double-double of the season. He scored 13 points while playing just 12 minutes in the second half and put the finishing touches on the victory with a putback dunk.
COOP 🗡️💪🤫 (ACCN) pic.twitter.com/BGldV87Uak
— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) December 9, 2024
Things were not always glowing for Duke in its first road ACC game of the season, trailing by as many as 14 points, 30-16, during the first half as Louisville shot 8-of-16 from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes.
Despite the hot shooting from the Cardinals, Duke still had the opportunity to take a lead into halftime after Louisville (5-4, 0-1 ACC) did not make a field goal in the final five minutes. The closest the Blue Devils could get was within four points, 37-33, with 3:21 to go but neither team scored during that period before halftime.
Maliq Brown was the unsung hero of the game with six points, all coming in the second half, with 11 rebounds and three steals while Sion James went 6-for-6 from the free throw line to end with 11 points.
Tyrese Proctor and Kon Knueppel each made big baskets with Flagg on the bench, combining for 25 points – 16 coming in the second half.
No. 9 Duke (7-2, 1-0 ACC) will dip back into non-conference play for its next two matchups, hosting Incarnate Word (5-4) on Tuesday night (7:00 p.m. ET, ACC Network).