Freshman Cooper Flagg rang up 42 points and No. 4 Duke held off visiting Notre Dame for an 86-78 victory Saturday afternoon in Durham, N.C.
Flagg made 11 of 14 shots from the field, including a 4-for-6 mark on 3-pointers, and went 16-for-17 on free throws in setting a record for the most points scored by a freshman in Atlantic Coast Conference history. He also became the first Duke player to reach 40 points since J.J. Redick did it twice in January 2006 and marked the most points for any Blue Devil since Danny Ferry’s 58 in 1988. Flagg also distributed a team-high seven assists and pulled in six rebounds.
Duke (14-2, 6-0 ACC), which has won 10 consecutive games, posted the game’s first 14 points to set the tone.
Khaman Maluach’s 19 points and 10 rebounds and Kon Knueppel’s 13 points also were a boost for the Blue Devils.
Markus Burton’s 23 points led Notre Dame (7-9, 1-4), which was coming off a pair of one-point losses. Braeden Shrewsberry notched 14 points and Tae Davis and Sir Mohammed each had 11 points for the Irish, who went 14 of 23 on 3s.
Flagg is the most highly touted freshman in the country. He has racked up 24 or more points in four of the last six games.
Duke’s stellar start came at both ends of the court. Notre Dame didn’t have a field goal until more than five minutes into the game.
When Flagg was called for a push-off for an offensive foul late in the first half, it resulted in a technical foul assessed to irate Duke coach Jon Scheyer.
Flagg scored 15 points in the first half and 15 more in the first nine minutes of the second half, reaching a career-high mark by that point. His previous high was 26 points vs. Kentucky in the third game of the season.
Notre Dame was within 63-53 before managing only one point across the next three-plus minutes. Yet the Irish put together an 11-0 run to close to within 79-74 with 1:03 to play.
Duke’s Sion James made a free throw before Burton’s drive for a basket closed the gap to 80-76 with 36 seconds left. Flagg sank two foul shots.
Flagg drained three 3-pointers in the game’s first seven minutes, putting Duke up 19-8. The halftime score was 44-36.
–Field Level Media
