The Duke Blue Devils spent a majority of the last 10 minutes without freshman superstar Cooper Flagg on Sunday evening, but the end result stayed the same in a 76-65 comeback victory over the Louisville Cardinals.
Any Duke basketball fans who looked at Louisville’s stats before Sunday were likely stunned by the opening 10 minutes. The Cardinals made just 27.3% of their 3-point tries in their first eight games, but they connected on eight of their first 11 attempts at the KFC Yum! Center.
Chucky Hepburn, a Wisconsin Badgers transfer who entered the game averaging 15.1 points, made two triples in the first six minutes, and James Madison transfer Terrence Edwards Jr. made three of his first four as Louisville blitzed out to a 30-16 advantage.
Conversely, the Blue Devils entered Sunday’s game making 36.6% of their 3-pointers, but Duke started on a 2/11 streak from behind the arc.
As they did against the Kansas Jayhawks and Auburn Tigers, however, the Blue Devils scratched and clawed their way back from the nightmare start. A trio of 3-pointers from Mason Gillis, Caleb Foster, and Sion James whittled the lead down to seven with about four minutes left in the half, and a three-point play from Flagg in the paint roped Duke back into a 37-33 ballgame.
With the Louisville lead just three a few minutes into the second half, the Blue Devils found nothing but icicles at the worst possible time. Duke missed seven straight shots from the floor to slip back behind by seven.
As he’s done in several crucial moments this season, Tyrese Proctor provided a few key buckets at the perfect time. The junior carved his way to the basket on back-to-back possessions, using perfect touch to find the basket on a pair of layups to keep pace.
With more than 10 minutes on the clock, Flagg picked up his fourth foul and reluctantly trodded toward the bench. The first-year forward buoyed the Blue Devils down the stretch for most of the season, and with a four-point Cardinals lead to overcome, situations seemed fragile for Scheyer’s team.
Instead, freshman Kon Knueppel finally landed a 3-pointer just 20 seconds later, and the lid flew off the basket. Duke ripped off 12 more points in the next four minutes, including a trio of baskets from Syracuse transfer Maliq Brown, before Knueppel knocked down another triple at the 5:42 mark.
By the time Flagg checked back in with 4:42 left, Duke led 68-60. The Blue Devils outscored Louisville 18-6 in his absence. The superstar still ended with a team-leading 20 points, of course, and he notched 12 rebounds for his fourth career double-double.
The Cardinals couldn’t sustain their early-game shooting momentum, starting the second half 3/12 from distance with three different scoring droughts longer than two minutes. Louisville only scored 28 points after the break, only good enough for an 11-point loss.
Flagg and the Blue Devils must deal with a quick turnaround as the Incarnate Word Cardinals come to Cameron Indoor Stadium on Tuesday.
