The Duke men’s basketball team won its fifth straight game on Tuesday night by following the usual formula, relying upon freshman superstar [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and some stifling second-half defense for a 68-47 victory over George Mason.
Duke and George Mason both entered Tuesday’s battle within the top six in effective field goal percentage allowed, and the two teams certainly lived up to the defensive billing in the opening half.
The Blue Devils, who have struggled on offense in the opening minutes for most of the season, knocked down two 3-pointers in the first three minutes for an early 6-0 lead before missing 13 of their next 14 shots from the floor. The home team endured multiple four-minute scoring droughts before the break, only chopping them up with a five-for-seven run near the middle of the period.
However, while the Patriots excel at forcing tough shots from the floor, they struggle to end possessions. George Mason ranked outside the top 260 in offensive rebounding rate allowed, per KenPom’s metrics, and the Blue Devils certainly overpowered them on the glass.
Flagg came down with five second-chance possessions in the first eight minutes, including one sequence when he tipped three offensive boards to himself in a row. Duke returned to the locker room with eight offensive rebounds in the first half, helping the Blue Devils build a 25-16 lead despite going 9/33 (27.3%) from the field and 4/15 (26.7%) from behind the arc.
Flagg spent most of the first half settling for short floaters rather than muscling his way to the basket, and most of them found iron instead of nylon. The first-year forward only made two of his 11 shots in the first 20 minutes, a seven-point opening half, but he quickly course-corrected after the short break.
The 6-foot-9 forward shouldered his way to the rim over and over again in the opening minutes of the second, drawing a foul on one possession and rolling a layup in off the rim on another. Add in a jumper, and Flagg notched six points in the first three minutes after the half.
The run seemed contagious for his teammates with fellow freshman [autotag]Kon Knueppel[/autotag] getting to the glass for a layup and junior [autotag]Tyrese Proctor[/autotag] knocking down his second 3-pointer for a run of four straight makes.
When forward Maliq Brown slammed down a two-handed dunk with 14:36 left on the clock, Duke had opened up a 20-point lead thanks to a 15-4 run to open the latter period.
The remaining time passed slowly, but Isaiah Evans came off the bench for a trio of 3-pointers to raise the team percentage to 33.3% before the end of the night. Flagg finished with 24 points thanks to a decisive second half, his fifth 20-point game of the season, and he added nine rebounds, four assists, and three steals.
George Mason made five straight shots from the floor in the final eight minutes, but the Patriots still only managed to connect on 20 of their 68 (29.4%) looks for the game.
The Blue Devils, now 9-2 for the season, will now hit the road for a Saturday afternoon game against Georgia Tech. Duke already won its first ACC game of the season against Louisville on December 8, a 76-65 comeback away from Durham.