Tried and tested: How Cooper Flagg and No. 9 Duke basketball stood firm to beat Auburn
Doubt began to creep in early for No. 9 Duke this season, what with its freshman superstar unable to make big plays at crunch time as the Blue Devils lost to Kentucky and Kansas in November.
December’s first challenge brought a better result, the kind Duke coach Jon Scheyer hoped would come from those tough losses that still sting.
This time, Duke had the answers in the game’s final minutes to hand No. 2 Auburn its first loss, an 84-78 decision that will resonate positively for the Blue Devils (6-2) the rest of the season.
“Down the stretch, we made the plays, the tough plays, in order to win,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said.
No one displayed Duke’s growth more than its most talked about and most scrutinized player, freshman Cooper Flagg.
The 6-9 superstar, dogged by turnovers late when Duke lost 77-72 to Kentucky on Nov. 12 and 75-72 to Kansas on Nov. 26, made play after play in helping Duke subdue Auburn. By scoring 16 of his game-high 22 points in the second half, and playing turnover-free basketball in 37:33 of game action, Flagg showed grit missing in those earlier losses.
Those earlier setbacks, though, helped make his Auburn experience far better.
“It’s something that ever since both of those games, it’s just been a pain in the back of my head, burning me every time I think about it,” Flagg said. “I wish I could just get those possessions back so to have no turnovers tonight is huge for me and is great going forward.”
Auburn did its best to knock Flagg and the Blue Devils off their game.
With their starting lineup filled with seniors, the Tigers rolled into Cameron, built an early 11-point lead and reveled in their orange-clad fans unleashing cheers louder than the Cameron Crazies in the game’s early minutes.
Duke held firm, though, leading by seven at halftime thanks to freshman Isaiah Evans’ six first-half 3-pointers, and by as many as 12 in the second half, before Auburn made its expected push to cut the Duke lead to 70-68 with 5:06 to play.
But Flagg and the Blue Devils never gave up the lead. By drawing fouls in situations where turnovers occurred in earlier games, Flagg hit five free throws over the game’s final four minutes.
By that point, he’d absorbed body blows and hard fouls as the older Tigers tried their hardest to intimidate him.
“I told him all week, they’re gonna go at you all the time,” said Duke junior guard Tyrese Proctor, who scored 12 points against Auburn. “They had a couple dirty plays and I just told him to keep his head composed and poised and just trust himself. He’s another kid that puts in the work. It doesn’t just happen overnight. He puts in the work, and we trust him. He trusts himself. And he’s had a really good game.”
Because he’s shown such immense talent for years, Flagg’s been playing against older kids since his middle school years. Familiarity doesn’t make it easier and he’s glad to, once again, prove he can handle what’s dished out.
“Definitely something that I’ve been dealing with since I was in sixth, seventh grade,” Flagg said. “People look at me and they think they can just out tough me, be more physical with me, and it will take me out of the game. But I’ve just got to keep playing through it, keep learning how to use that against them, and just keep getting better.”
That’s the growth Scheyer hoped would come for Flagg in particular, and the Blue Devils as a whole, from the losses to Kentucky and Kansas.
“Night and day,” Scheyer said to describe Flagg’s play against Auburn compared to those losses.
“Really, in this short of a time frame, it’s a month, right? Whatever it is, to see the growth and in big-time moments, to create shots against high level defenders, I thought that was big.”
That goes for Duke overall, too.
Duke had plenty of chances to beat Kentucky and Kansas before taking those losses. The Blue Devils came through with an impressive 69-55 win at Arizona on Nov. 22 in between those two setbacks, so the ability to finish off a quality opponent was there.
Wednesday night, while the rest of the ACC floundered in its challenge series against SEC teams, the Blue Devils took care of their business against Auburn and will head into league play at Louisville on Sunday with satisfaction.
“They’re a great team, one of the best teams in the country,” Flagg said. “So for us to be able to go out and compete how we did, and kind of put on the physicality and the toughness that we kind of played with, I think was huge for us.”
This story was originally published December 5, 2024 at 9:28 AM.