Cooper Flagg had his way with UK basketball. Until the Cats stopped him late to beat Duke.
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Game day: No. 19 Kentucky 77, No. 6 Duke 72
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Tuesday night’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Duke at the 2024 Champions Classic in Atlanta.
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From Duke’s first offensive possession against Kentucky on Tuesday night, it was clear who the featured act would be.
With all due respect to Kentucky’s ultimately victorious cast of college basketball veterans, as well as the young stars on Duke’s roster, one player was the headline attraction in this year’s Champions Classic at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena.
Duke freshman sensation Cooper Flagg converted an alley-oop on the Blue Devils’ first play of the game, and he was off from there.
Whether it was bullying Kentucky players in the paint, asserting his 6-foot-9 frame on the glass or showcasing his tantalizing offensive versatility, Flagg — still only 17 years old — displayed why he’s widely projected to be the top pick in next summer’s NBA draft.
Flagg’s final stat line?
A game-high 26 points and 12 rebounds for his second-career double-double (in only three college games) along with 2 assists, 2 blocks and 7-for-9 shooting from the foul line. That Flagg overcame a tough shooting night from distance — he made just 1 of 5 3-pointers attempted — was an even bigger indication that the freshman knows how to affect the game when shots aren’t falling.
But it was another part of Flagg’s stat line — a Duke team-high 3 turnovers — that will stick in the minds of Duke and Kentucky fans alike.
Twice in the final 15 seconds of Kentucky’s 77-72 win, Flagg turned the ball over.
The first came with 12 seconds to play and the game tied at 72. Duke head coach Jon Scheyer had taken his final timeout and called Flagg’s number. The ball was in-bounded to Flagg, who sized up his defender, UK’s Andrew Carr, before driving left and burrowing his way into the paint.
Once there, Flagg was met by the quick hands of Otega Oweh. The Kentucky junior, who transferred in from Oklahoma this offseason, took advantage of a loose dribble from Flagg, stole the ball away and broke away in transition. Oweh was fouled on his way to the rim before scoring what would prove to be the game-winning points from the foul line.
“He just told me to go make a play, be aggressive,” Oweh said Kentucky coach Mark Pope told him before that sequence. “He trusted me to make those types of plays. I trusted myself to make those plays. We shared a moment, but he just told me to go, to just be me.”
Flagg’s second crunch-time turnover came with five seconds left, and Duke trailing by two. With 10.3 seconds left, the Blue Devils had to go the length of the floor with no timeouts following Oweh’s two made free throws. The ball, again, found its way to Flagg, who took the inbounds pass near midcourt and drove toward the left side of the basket. There, he was confronted by UK center Amari Williams.
Thanks to some quick footwork and nimble hands by Williams, Flagg was thwarted well before he ever reached the painted area. In almost slapstick fashion, the ball became tangled in Flagg’s legs, and the nation’s top-ranked recruit stumbled over before touching the ball while out of bounds.
That all but doomed Duke to defeat, with Kentucky finishing the job seconds later from the foul line.
Postgame, Scheyer was straightforward when assessing those final possessions.
“Well, the ball in (Flagg’s) hands. (Kentucky) knew that was happening too, and I’m OK with that,” Scheyer said. “We’re going to be in these moments a lot together, and I trust (Flagg’s) instincts. I probably could have put him in a better position, to be honest.”
Flagg, who dealt with cramping problems during both of Duke’s opening contests against Maine and Army, suffered no such ill effects Tuesday. He played all 20 minutes of the second half, perhaps refreshed after sitting most of the final seven minutes of the first half due to foul trouble.
“He’s got to touch it and trust that good things are going to happen,” Scheyer said of Flagg in late-game situations. “I wish you could say that every time it’s going to work out, and that’s not reality. … Again, I want him to touch it down the stretch.”
“Coach trusted me to go and make a play, like he said it didn’t work out,” Flagg added. “I’m glad he had that trust in me to put the ball in my hands. I’m looking for it in that moment. It didn’t work out, but I’m still going to look for it no matter what.”
Yes, Cooper Flagg more than looked the part Tuesday night. But in winning time, it was the Wildcats who shut down Flagg, twice, to secure Mark Pope’s first major win as Kentucky’s coach.
UK basketball turned things around in second half against Duke
Kentucky forced only seven Duke turnovers during Tuesday’s game, and the Cats got just one takeaway in the first half.
But in modern day college basketball, experience pays and experience plays.
Duke gave the ball away six times in the second half, and Kentucky scored nine points from those turnovers. Coupled with a sizable turnaround in interior defense and scoring, Kentucky was able to chip away at Duke’s nine-point halftime lead.
“Their experience came out in that second half, no question,” Scheyer said postgame of UK.
For Flagg, plenty of major college basketball moments are still to come. The 17-year-old is averaging 19 points and 10 rebounds per game in his nascent college career. Things will be just fine for Flagg, and probably for the Blue Devils as a group.
The takeaways from Tuesday night will be squarely focused on Kentucky, and specifically the way that Pope’s team used a gritty, come-from-behind effort to take down one of its bitterest rivals.
For all the flash — and substance — that came with Flagg’s performance, the late-game turnovers will be what’s remembered.
What also shouldn’t be forgotten is the way Kentucky forced them to occur.
“We really just want to go out there and do the things we know we can do, stay solid, stay to our principles,” Oweh, one of the heroes of this UK win, said. “If we do that, we know we’re going to get a win, which was the outcome.”
This story was originally published November 13, 2024 at 8:52 AM.
