Duke basketball (21-3, 13-1 ACC) got back in the win column last night at home over California (12-13, 5-9 ACC) 78-57 following the program's first ACC and road loss of the season last Saturday at Clemson. The Blue Devils looked back in prime form and seemed to have taken a loss to an unranked team personally.
Here's the three biggest takeaways from the Blue Devils' 21st victory of the season.
Cooper Flagg continues to cement case as #1 NBA Draft selection
The Duke freshman phenom tallied double figure scoring for the 14th straight game as Flagg finished the win versus California with a game-high 27 points to go along with five rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Flagg also threw down a ferocious reverse slam dunk in the second half off of a steal for one his flashiest throwdowns of the season. The dunk put the Blue Devils up 26 points and served as the unofficial dagger to end the contest. There hasn't been too much debate about who should be the #1 overall pick in this year's upcoming NBA Draft, but Flagg continues to separate himself from the bunch with consistent play. Flagg is now averaging 19.8 points and 7.6 rebounds on 48.3% shooting from the field. He's also 9-of-16 (56.3%) from three point range over his last four games.
Tyrese Proctor red hot after midseason slump
The junior guard has been having likely the best season of his Duke career and has put his name as an early to middle of the second round pick in this year's NBA Draft. Yet through mid January, Proctor hit a massive slump in the scoring column, barely contributing on that end of the floor. In Duke's five games between January 11th and January 28th, Proctor totaled 33 points, an average of 6.6 points per game. He scored 20 points in Duke's win at Boston College in that stretch, but totaled 13 points combined in the other four games of that stretch, with Proctor being held scoreless against Miami. But since February hit, Proctor has found his groove again. In Duke's four games so far this month, Proctor is averaging 18.5 points per game on 26-of-52 (50%) shooting from the field and 13-of-29 (44.8%) shooting from three point range. The junior has continued to stay aggressive on the offensive end of the floor despite a slump and has found his stroke once again.
Defense came into this game with a chip on its shoulder
Duke has the 3rd-best adjusted defensive efficiency rating at KenPom, and have been considered one of the top three to five defensive teams in college basketball all season. Against Clemson, the Tigers found a way to get through the Blue Devil defense, shooting 58.8% from the field in the upset. The Blue Devils came into this one with a bit of anger after an unranked squad got whatever they wanted on the offensive side of the ball, and made it a long night for Andrej Stojakovic and the rest of the Golden Bears. Duke held the Golden Bears to 57 points on 35.1% shooting from the field and 30.4% shooting from beyond the arc. The Blue Devils also held Stojakovic, who averages 17.5 points per game on 41.5% shooting this season, to 10 points on 4-of-14 shooting. The Blue Devils were back into suffocating form that fans have seen for the majority of this season.
The Blue Devils are at home once again next to host Stanford (16-9, 8-6 ACC) on Saturday (4:00pm ET, ESPN). The Cardinal are in sixth place in the ACC standings and have lost three of their last four.