Duke news roundup: Flagg chirped by UK player, Murphy has best game of season, former Blue Devil has career game

Duke basketball sits at 2-0 before its date with #23 Kentucky (2-0) on Tuesday night in the annual State Farm Champions Classic. The game will tip off at 9:00pm EDT at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, GA. The Blue Devils are 8-5 in the event since it began in 2011 and 2-2 versus Kentucky. Ahead of the contest, new Wildcats guard Kerr Kriisa had some words for Duke freshman phenom Cooper Flagg. When asked about the game, he went on to bring up the hype around Flagg's name by sarcastically congratulating the freshman sensation on already becoming the first overall draft choice in the 2025 NBA Draft. "Obviously the whole world is talking about Cooper Flagg." Kriisa said. "So excited to play against the number one draft pick. So congrats to him already." Kriisa has always been a high-energy guy on the court that likes to chirp his opponents, and it looks like he wants to get in the head of Duke's best player before Tuesday's game. Flagg is averaging 15.5 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists on 44% shooting from the field so far this season and Kriisa is averaging 8.5 assists per game to just 1.5 turnovers.

Duke football quarterback Maalik Murphy finally had a game where he looked sharp for four quarters, finishing with what could be his best game all season in Duke's 29-19 win over NC State this past Saturday. Murphy finished with 245 yards passing and three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing) to go along with zero interceptions. He finished with season highs in completion percentage (71%), quarterback rating (69.5), and passer rating (158.6). Murphy looked calm and collected for four straight quarters for the first time all season and it showed up in the stat sheet. Another thing we're seeing from Murphy as each game goes on is his ability to spread the ball out, as five different receivers caught at least three passes from Murphy against the Wolfpack. "You needed someone of Maalik's caliber of accuracy to make the plays that we did." Duke football head coach Manny Diaz said. "In a game where everything was tough, and it was going to take a high level of execution to move the football, I thought he came through and gave us a chance." Murphy isn't known as a running quarterback, but was even able to cap off his stellar afternoon with a rushing touchdown beyond his two passing. This was Murphy's eighth game of the season throwing for multiple passing touchdowns and his fourth turnover-free game. Next up, the Blue Devils host Virginia Tech on November 23rd at 8:00pm EDT on ACC Network.

Former Duke basketball player and current Philadelphia 76ers rookie Jared McCain had a career game last night in Philadelphia's 107-105 overtime victory over the Charlotte Hornets. McCain finished with a career-high 27 points on 10-0f-18 (55.6%) shooting from the field to go along with three assists and two rebounds. This was just his fifth game of the season, but after seeing a total of 32 minutes of action across his first three appearances combined, McCain has seen 31 minutes a night in each of the last two games he's appeared in. The struggling 76ers, now 2-7 after coming into the season as one of the favorites to win the Eastern Conference, have been struggling to find consistent scoring through the early part of the season especially with injuries to Paul George and the recent three-game suspension handed out to Joel Embiid on top of his constant injury bug. 76ers coach Nick Nurse talked about McCain's performance after last night's win. "We certainly needed every last one of them. He can create. He can get by people, and he has got some array of finishes..It was a great lift." McCain expressed his thanks and gratitude for having the opportunity to have a great night like he did. "It is always a sense of gratitude. I'm just thankful to be able to play out there, be healthy and come out of the game safe and healthy. To be able to perform how I did, I attribute it to my work." McCain is currently tied for the seventh-best odds to win Rookie of the Year at ESPNBET at +2500.