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There are more imposing challenges looming in the immediate future, but the Duke Blue Devils men’s basketball team is off to a perfect 2-0 start to the 2024-25 season.
Duke handled the Army Black Knights with relative ease in a 100-58 victory on Friday at Cameron Indoor Stadium after starting the season with a win over Maine. All eyes were again on Cooper Flagg, and the freshman delivered with a double-double of 13 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals in his second career game.
It wasn’t a one-man show, as six Blue Devils scored in double figures, including Kon Knueppel (15 points on 4-of-6 from three-point range) and Khaman Maluach (11 points and 14 rebounds).
Still, Flagg was the headliner and drew plenty of social-media reaction:
Jonathan Givony @DraftExpress
Cooper Flagg filled up the boxscore in Duke’s blowout win over Army. 13 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals and 2/4 3P in 25 minutes for the projected No. 1 pick. pic.twitter.com/YLMbTmEzym
ACC Network @accnetwork
COOPER FLAGG JUST PUT UP A DOUBLE-DOUBLE AGAINST ARMY 🔥
(in just the first half) 🤯 pic.twitter.com/4CRbKfMUsD
The opener against Maine was all about the freshmen with Flagg stuffing the stat sheet like he will be expected to in every game and Knueppel pouring in 22 points. That put the spotlight on them again Friday, and they wasted no time setting the tone as Duke cruised to a 23-point halftime lead.
Knueppel drained two triples in that first half, but the story was Flagg.
Everything he did was smooth and unguardable, and he proved he can impact winning beyond just his scoring with a double-double by intermission. The rebounding stood out, but so did his ability to facilitate in transition, protect the rim on the interior and create overall chaos on the defensive side with his ball pressure and willingness to dive on the floor.
Of course, the scoring is also impressive.
He found his stroke from beyond the arc, which is a concerning development for the rest of the ACC because he easily blows past defenders off the dribble when they press up on that shot. He also threw down a dunk on an alley-oop to fire up the crowd and looked every bit the part of a potential No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft.
The game was never in doubt in the second half, although something finally slowed down Flagg.
He spent time on the bench because of cramping issues, which is something he also dealt with in the opener. Fortunately for the Blue Devils, he did return to the game but didn’t need to do much with the outcome well in hand.
With another straightforward win in the books, attention now turns to the upcoming challenges. Duke faces Arizona, Kansas and Auburn in the nonconference slate before ACC play, and the first looming threat comes Tuesday with a showdown against Kentucky.
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