It was an old school ACC rivalry when the Duke basketball team hosted the Cal Golden Bears on Wednesday night inside Cameron Indoor Stadium – sorry, had to make the joke.
Regardless, the No. 3 Blue Devils were trying to bounce back from its loss on Saturday evening against Clemson and head coach Jon Scheyer wanted his team to get back to its strong defensive roots and they obliged.
Duke held Cal (12-13, 5-9 ACC) to just 57 points in its 21-point victory, its second lowest scoring output of the season after shooting just 35.1-percent from the floor and 30.4-percent from 3-point range.
The Blue Devils (21-3, 13-1 ACC) built an early lead, scoring the first seven points of the game after Tyrese Proctor opened the matchup with a 3-pointer on the team’s first possession, and never looked back.
The margin was 15 points, 38-23, at halftime and rookie sensation Cooper Flagg took center stage after there had been conversation since its loss about his health and preparation leading up to games.
Flagg finished with 27 points in the victory, making 8-of-14 shot attempts, while only two other players reached double figures for the Blue Devils behind 17 points from Proctor and 10 points from Khaman Maluach.
He posted nearly identical scoring stat lines in each game, scoring 13 points in the first half on 4-of-7 shooting, splitting his two 3-point attempts, and making 4-of-4 free throws. The only difference in the second half was he scored 14 points with one extra made free throw.
As a team, Duke shot 46.6-percent from the floor.
The Blue Devils will remain home and welcome in another conference foe from the state of California, the Stanford Cardinal (16-9, 8-6 ACC), after its failed comeback bid against Georgia Tech.
Tipoff is slated for 4:00 p.m. ET on ABC.