Cooper Flagg leads Duke to blowout win over rival North Carolina

DURHAM, N.C. — In his first taste of the Duke–North Carolina rivalry, Cooper Flagg delivered arguably the most complete performance of his career to lead the Blue Devils to a dominant 87-70 victory Saturday night.

Flagg scored or assisted on each of Duke’s first six baskets as the Blue Devils raced to an early lead, and his final line — 21 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocked shots — proved to be an emphatic debut in one of the country’s great rivalries. It was also the latest example that, as Duke coach Jon Scheyer said, Flagg is a basketball “savant.”

“It might be [my best college game],” Flagg said, “but for me, I’m just trying to make the right plays. Four of the first six baskets I assisted. That’s huge for me to find my teammates and make plays for them.”

The stellar performance still fell short of what Flagg might have done, Scheyer said. Flagg played all but the final 47 seconds of the second half, and Scheyer thought his star freshman was worn down toward the end, when North Carolina cut Duke’s lead from 32 with 9:04 to play to 16 at the 2:59 mark.

Flagg said he was angry with his — and Duke’s — performance in that late stretch, despite the lopsided win.

“It was a little bit of me being tired and making some dumb mistakes at the end,” Flagg said. “Being soft at the end kind of played into that.”

Scheyer took responsibility for Flagg’s slow finish but added it’s rare to post such gaudy numbers and still find room for criticism.

“He almost had a triple-double, and he wasn’t quite himself [at the end],” Scheyer said. “But besides that segment, he was just in control the entire game. He makes everybody better around him, and it’s a heck of a thing to have 21, 8 and 7 and you think he could’ve done more.”

Flagg’s ability to involve teammates was at the forefront of Saturday’s win. In the first five minutes, he racked up four assists, two steals and a rebound.

Fellow Duke freshman Kon Knueppel finished with a game-high 22 points and five assists. Flagg and Knueppel are the first teammates to each tally 20 points and five assists in a game in this rivalry in 15 years. The last duo was Duke’s Scheyer and Nolan Smith.

“They absolutely feed off each other,” Scheyer said. “It starts with their competitiveness. They play both sides of the ball. They have high-level feel. … Add in their skill and versatility. Kon’s posting and shooting and pick-and-roll. And everybody knows, Cooper’s already doing everything. They have a great thing. There’s a lot of maturity with both of them.”

Despite that maturity, this was still their first time experiencing the rivalry. As a recruit, Flagg sat behind the Duke bench last season as the Tar Heels mustered an 84-79 win in Cameron Indoor Stadium. North Carolina players chirped at Duke’s squad throughout, and Flagg said he remembered the Tar Heels taunting the Cameron Crazies after it was over, which he said added a bit of motivation this time.

Flagg admitted to some pregame nerves in an environment he described as “really loud and hot,” but he said once the game tipped off, he was locked on the action.

“You could definitely feel a different energy tonight,” Flagg said. “For us, it’s just another game. We came out and executed our game plan, did what we were trying to do, and came out with the win. It’s another game, and we’re chasing a big mission this year.”