Duke basketball star forward and the presumptive top pick in the 2025 NBA draft Cooper Flagg stuffed the stat sheet in the No. 12-ranked Blue Devils' 69-55 win over No. 17 Arizona at McKale Memorial Center on Friday.
A raucous and rowdy crowd of 14,634 packed the arena and made the environment an uncomfortable one for Duke. At one point, a fan even hurled a beer can in the direction of the Blue Devils moments after they ran onto the court for pregame introductions.
But the 17-year-old Flagg, playing in the first road game of his college basketball career, was unbowed by the crowd, as the star freshman poured in a game-high 24 points, adding six rebounds, three assists, two blocks, a pair of three-pointers and a steal in 38 minutes of action.
Fans were impressed.
It’s frightening how effortless Cooper Flagg makes a 24-6-3-2 stat line look. One of the most calm and collected superstars I’ve ever seen. https://t.co/a0YVKpz0Hl
— The Brotherhood (@BrotherhoodCBB) November 23, 2024
UConn allowing Cooper Flagg to leave the New England area will haunt them for years‼️ 20 years from now kids will say that they want to play for Duke because Flagg played for Duke. That's just how good he is. Shocking to see a 17 yr old wing with this much talent & poise
— Sports King🔥 (@Sports_Kings_) November 23, 2024
The best prospect since LBJ! 🔥
— Kenpachey (@kenpachey_eth) November 23, 2024
Cooper Flagg is special
— Zach “🅂🄲🄷🅄🅉” Schumaker (@_SchuZ_) November 23, 2024
As this fan pointed out, perhaps most impressive about Flagg's game vs. Arizona was the fact that he started the game shooting 2-for-10 from the field.
The shot wasn’t there early otherwise he was going for 35.
— andyrite (@andyrite) November 23, 2024
And Flagg got it done on both ends of the floor for Duke, as evidenced by these two plays.
COOPER FLAGG pic.twitter.com/tGSP1xqA2i
— Blue Devils (@BlueDevils) November 23, 2024
with Cooper Flagg, the defensive awareness, alongside the tools, are off the charts.
— Sheed on the Hawks (@SheedinATL) November 23, 2024
he recognises that Knueppel is at a disadvantage, puts himself in position to cover it, and, when the teammate gets beat, he recovers from outside the free throw line and blocks the shot like… pic.twitter.com/DAxoZAVcVH
Through five games played, Flagg leads the Blue Devils (4-1) in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as College Basketball Fans React to Duke Star Cooper Flagg's Big Game vs. Arizona.
