Flagg day: Three takeaways as Duke holds off Notre Dame behind Cooper Flagg's 42 points

Steve Wiseman, The News & Observer on Jan 11, 2025

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DURHAM, N.C. — Cooper Flagg’s historic scoring day propelled No. 4 Duke to its 10th consecutive win Saturday.

Duke’s 6-9 freshman forward set an ACC freshman single-game record with 42 points to lead the Blue Devils to an 86-78 win over Notre Dame at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

A preseason all-American, Flagg became the first Duke player to score 40 points in a game since JJ Redick hit for 40 against Virginia on Jan. 28, 2006. The previous ACC freshman scoring record was held by Boston College’s Olivier Hanlan, who scored 41 points in an ACC tournament game in 2013.

“Cooper had an all-time special performance,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “The stats speak for themselves. But, more than that, I thought it was just his timing of key plays. You know, anytime we needed a basket, he came through.”

Duke (14-2, 6-0 ACC) matched its longest winning streak in Scheyer’s three seasons as head coach.

Flagg hit 11 of 14 shots to score 20 points or more for the eighth time this season. He was effective on 3-point shots as well, hitting 4 of 6, and sank 16 of 17 free throws. Flagg also led Duke in assists with seven.

Five of Flagg’s assists came on lob passes to 7-2 freshman center Khaman Maluach, who scored a season-best 19 points while grabbing 10 rebounds.

Markus Burton scored 23 points to lead Notre Dame (7-9, 1-4 ACC), which lost its fourth consecutive game but, after trailing by as many as 18 points in the second half, cut the Duke lead to four points at 80-76 with 32.4 seconds left. But Duke hit all six of its free throws from there, including four from Flagg, to seal the win.

Three takeaways from Duke’s latest win:

Maliq Brown sidelined

Duke’s superb sixth man, Maliq Brown, played only 52 seconds, all in the first half, before being ruled out for the rest of the game with a right knee injury.

Scheyer provided an unsettling update following the game.

“Maliq has proven to be one of our toughest guys easily,” Scheyer said. “So the fact that he can’t go back in the game, I don’t think is a good sign. We’re going to get imaging and get him looked at ASAP.”

Known for his defense, Brown averages 2.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. He is normally the first reserve off Duke’s bench as he splits time with Maluach in the post. Brown, whose 22 steals are second on the Blue Devils this season, plays an average of 19.1 minutes per game.

With Brown unavailable, 6-11 freshman center Patrick Ngongba moved up the post rotation to see extra playing time. Duke has played Ngongba sparingly this season (8.8 minutes per game in six games) as he recovers from foot injuries that wiped out his senior basketball season at Paul VI in Fairfax, Virginia, last season.

Against Notre Dame, Ngongba played 4:53, all in the first half. He scored two points.

Maluach played a season-high 32 minutes.

Irish shoot it well

Given the way Brown defends, his injury could very well have played a factor in Notre Dame having an unusually solid shooting day against Duke. The Irish made 27 of 56 field goals for 47.4% against a Duke defense that’s allowed teams to make just 35.8% of their shots this season.

Entering Saturday’s game, the Blue Devils had allowed only three opponents to shoot 40% or better in a game this season. They were Kansas (49.1%), Virginia Tech (46%) and Auburn (45.3%).

The Irish, after missing their first five shots, heated up to finish the first half at 48%. They made their first four shots after halftime to edge as high as 53% for the game and cut Duke’s lead to 52-46 with 16:43 to play.

Notre Dame was also exceptional on 3-pointers, hitting 14 of 24 (58.3%). That’s the highest Duke has allowed in a game this season.

Blowout streak ends

Duke scoring the game’s first 14 points set the Blue Devils up for yet another one-sided outcome. Duke entered the game having defeated its last six opponents all by 20 points or more. But Notre Dame kept it closer than any other Duke opponent during its winning streak.

The Blue Devils had won eight of their previous nine games all by 10 points or more.

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