Cooper Flagg impressed as expected Saturday, making memorable and impactful plays all over the court in his first game against outside competition in a Duke uniform.
The heralded 6-9 freshman scored 22 points and led the Blue Devils with six assists and four blocked shots as No. 7 Duke rolled to a 107-56 exhibition win over Division II Lincoln (Pa.) at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Widely projected to be the No. 1 pick in next summer’s NBA Draft, Flagg brought the Cameron Crazies to their feet with a pair of high-flying dunks as well as leaping high to emphatically block a Lincoln layup attempt in transition.
Another time, when he was fouled and knocked to the floor while sinking a pull-up jumper from 10 feet, Flagg showed a bit of personality by crossing his arms and nodding his head while laying on the court. He hopped up to hit the free throw to complete the three-point play.
Flagg stuffed all that production, albeit against a Division II opponent, in 24 minutes of play.
Tyrese Proctor scored 19 points while Kon Knueppel added 17 for the Blue Devils, who play Arizona State on Oct. 27 in their final exhibition game before opening the regular season Nov. 4 against Maine.
Here are three takeaways from Duke’s exhibition win over Lincoln:
Knueppel is a weapon
Flagg and Khaman Maluach are projected first-round NBA Draft picks next summer, but a third Duke freshman continues to be equally as impressive.
Knueppel, the 6-7 small forward from Milwaukee, hit five of seven 3-pointers in the first half alone on Saturday.
In the second half, he showed he’s far more than simply a shooter. When he missed a 3-pointer from the right corner and the rebound landed in Maluach’s hands, Knueppel followed his shot to the basket, took a pass from Maluach and completed a one-handed slam dunk through the defensive traffic at the rim.
Kneuppel played 25 minutes, making 6 of 11 shots while grabbing five rebounds and collecting three assists.
Proctor hunts his shot
Though he came off the bench on Saturday, Proctor followed his plan to find – and most importantly convert – more scoring chances.
Like Knueppel, Proctor scored 15 first-half points although the junior’s points came in a different manner. Yes, Proctor hit 2 of 4 3-pointers.
But he also got to the free throw line six times, making five of them in the game’s first 20 minutes.
He finished the day 7 of 8 from the free-throw line while committing just one turnover in 22 minutes of play.
Last season, Proctor averaged 10.8 points per game, making 43.6% of his shots overall, including 36.3% on 3-pointers.
With Flagg, and it appears Knueppel, lined up to provide consistent double-figure scoring, Duke doesn’t need Proctor to pour in 20 points per night. But getting his scoring average up to 14 or 15 points would make the Blue Devils even tougher to beat.
Proctor said he worked throughout the offseason on shooting as he searched for consistency.
“I came into Duke being a great shooter, and I obviously haven’t, you know, lived up to that yet,” he said earlier this month. “I’ve shown flashes of it, for sure, and had games. But I feel like just being consistent with it this year is going to be a big thing for me. Being able to make open shots, knocking down open shots. Being able to have the ball in my hand in the game and making the right plays.”
Saturday was a good start even if it came in a reserve role.
Player rotation
While coach Jon Scheyer started Flagg and Knueppel, he had two transfers – Sion James and Maliq Brown – join them in the starting five along with Caleb Foster, who along with Proctor is one of contributing players returning from last season’s team.
Proctor, Purdue transfer Mason Gillis and Maluach were the first three reserves into the game for Duke.
James picked up two first-half fouls, which limited him to only 7 minutes, 25 seconds of play before halftime and 18 minutes overall.
Brown also was called for two fouls in the first half, when he played 7:38. He played 19 minutes on Saturday, scoring seven points with four rebounds and three assists.
Duke is playing without 6-11 freshman center Patrick Ngongba, who was expected to provide depth in the post. Ngongba isn’t practicing as he recovers from a foot injury that’s plagued him since high school. He was not in uniform on Saturday against Lincoln.
Freshman forward Darren Harris was Duke’s ninth player to see action in the first half when he played 1:47.
So, at this point, an eight-man rotation is starting to emerge. Harris and Ngongba, who happen to be former high school teammates at Northern Virginia’s Paul VI School, have the ability to earn more minutes as well.