Duke Blue Devil and college basketball fans have had the privilege of watching freshman phenom Cooper Flagg excel all season long; on Saturday evening, he added another signature game despite scoring only 15 points.
Cooper Flagg Shows Off Entire Repertoire of Skills in Final Regular-Season Game
Flagg has been arguably the best player in college basketball this season, putting himself in a two-man race for the Naismith Player of the Year award. The 18-year-old freshman has produced numerous eye-opening performances this season, many of which are due to his versatile scoring ability.
He scored a career-high 42 points against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on January 11 and has three more 28-point performances this season on his way to averaging 19.6 ppg, the third-highest mark in the ACC.
His all-around play has been on display throughout the season — but arguably none more so than in Duke’s victory over the North Carolina Tar Heels on Saturday evening, their last regular-season game.
With just under 13 minutes remaining in the first half, Flagg was whistled for his second foul, leading head coach Jon Scheyer to send him to the bench. He reentered the game with five minutes left in the half. Less than two minutes later, he was called for a charge — his third foul of the game.
Scheyer returned him to the bench for the rest of the first half.
Once the second half started, Flagg was back on the court — and never left it for the rest of the game.
He showcased his defensive ability while leaving no doubt of a foul to the officials, a doubly hard task. His four blocks were a game-high, along with grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out six assists. Flagg’s 15 points were his lowest output in over a month, yet he impacted the game just as much—if not more—than he normally does.
Going into the halftime break, the Blue Devils led by only one point as the Tar Heels had leaned into their home crowd and finished the first half on a 12-1 run.
The situation looked even worse early in the second half when UNC took a seven-point lead. The crowd in Chapel Hill was going wild as the Tar Heels looked to be on the brink of an upset over the second-ranked team in the country.
Over the next five minutes, the Blue Devils took a four-point lead of their own. Flagg amassed four points, five rebounds, two assists, and a block during that span.
Duke never relinquished the lead, with the final score ending at 82-69. Flagg’s impact was felt outside of his scoring throughout the final 15 minutes of the game.
Fellow freshman Kon Knueppel commented on Flagg’s performance after the game.
“Even with guys like Cooper getting in foul trouble in the first half, we stayed the course. And to get him back swinging in the second half was great.”
After a spectacular block on UNC forward Ven-Allen Lubin, Flagg extended his yell towards the Tar Heel crowd—he was rightfully fired up by how he played.
Throughout the entire season, the freshman’s selflessness has been evident. He hasn’t needed to be the leading scorer every game, but he does so because he’s so good at it. He’s highly comfortable creating for others, visibly appearing overjoyed when another teammate scores a bucket.
After the game, Flagg was asked about the victory and deflected any praise pointed his way.
“It just shows how deep of a team we have. Everybody’s always ready, so just a bunch of guys stepped up tonight.”
KEEP READING: What Can’t Cooper Flagg Do? Breaking Down His Versatile Impact
It was a completely on-brand answer from the 18-year-old, who’s shown to be mature beyond his years.
Another on-brand moment for Flagg? His quick blow-by and monster jam put the game away for good with under two minutes left. Despite having an off night, he’s still suitable for the capitalizing play.
The win crowned Duke as the ACC’s regular-season champions — in no small part due to Flagg’s excellence all season long in every facet of the game.
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