Tag: Duke basketball

Duke basketball holds steady in the KenPom rankings after Incarnate Word victory

Despite an underwhelming first half against Incarnate Word on Tuesday, the Blue Devils stayed within the top three of the KenPom rankings.

The Duke Blue Devils struggled to pull away from Incarnate Word on Tuesday night, clinging to a two-point lead with 6:10 left in the first half, but the eventual 72-46 victory didn’t drop them in the advanced metrics.

As of Wednesday morning, [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and his teammates remained the third-ranked team in KenPom’s adjusted efficiency metric.

The offense took some time to wake up in Durham, but the Duke defense looked elite once again. With the Cardinals shooting just 32.1% from the floor and 21.7% from 3-point range, the Blue Devils have now held eight teams under 40% from the field and six teams under 28% from distance through 10 games.

They haven’t allowed more than 78 points in a game this season, and KenPom only credits them with 88.7 adjusted points allowed per 100 possessions to lead the entire country. In fact, the Tennessee Volunteers (89.0) and Houston Cougars (89.9) are the only other teams with a defensive rating below 92.

The Blue Devils did tumble from the offensive top 10, however. The team has made 35 of its 113 3-point efforts over the last four games, an alarming 31.0%, and that number slips to 28.6% if the Auburn Tigers victory is removed from the sample.

KenPom now considers Duke the No. 13 offense in the country, which is still the best of any ACC school.

Did the Cameron Crazies help Duke football land transfer quarterback Darian Mensah?

Former Tulane QB Darian Mensah committed to Duke just hours after he stood among the Cameron Crazies at a Tuesday night basketball game.

The Duke football program made its first offseason splash on Wednesday morning when Tulane quarterback Darian Mensah committed to transfer to the Blue Devils, but did the Cameron Crazies play a role in his decision?

Mensah visited Durham on Tuesday and attended the Duke basketball game against Incarnate Word. During the second half, the student section chanted for him to join them in the stands.

The former Green Wave passer, it seems, is a man of the people, because he obliged. WXII 12’s Chanel Porter shared a video of him walking along the baseline and clambering up the stairs among his future classmates, much to the appreciation of the home crowd.

Perhaps the Tulane transfer was always going to choose the Blue Devils, and he may have made up his mind before the Crazies started chanting his name. But it’s hard to imagine the student section didn’t make a positive impression at the very least.

Oh, and [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and his teammates won their fourth straight game, surging past UIW with a dominant second half for the 72-46 victory.

The best Duke basketball photos from Tuesday’s win over Incarnate Word

Check out the best Duke basketball photos from Tuesday’s game against Incarnate Word.

Tuesday’s gritty victory over Incarnate Word served as a solid reminder of the depth in Duke’s freshman class.

The Blue Devils struggled to pull away from the Cardinals for the first 15 minutes as superstar freshman [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] made just two of his eight shots. The superstar forward anchored last week’s victories with 20-point double-doubles, but as he struggled to generate similar production on the offensive end against UIW, Duke looked a little stuck in the mud.

Two other first-year players stepped up to pull the team out of slump. Center [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag] scored 10 points in the final 6:09 of the opening half, part of his team-leading 17 for the night, and [autotag]Isaiah Evans[/autotag] rattled home four 3-pointers off the bench after the break.

It all came together in the end for the home team, and when time expired, the Blue Devils could celebrate a fourth straight win.

Check out some of the best photos from an up-and-down night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

How many points did Cooper Flagg score against Incarnate Word?

Here’s how Duke freshman phenom Cooper Flagg performed against the Incarnate Word Cardinals on Tuesday.

Well, Duke basketball superstar [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] probably wasn’t going to put together a 20-point double-double in every single game.

It would have been easy for the Cameron Crazies to expect otherwise after his previous two performances. The 17-year-old forward averaged 21.5 points and 11.5 rebounds in victories over the Auburn Tigers and Louisville Cardinals, a run that won him AP national player of the week honors. With Incarnate Word next on the schedule, it felt like a foregone conclusion that Flagg would stack another video-game stat line against the Cardinals.

Instead, in his third game in seven days, Flagg only played 22 minutes and struggled to find an offensive flow against UIW. The first-year Blue Devil missed six of his first eight shots as Duke took more than six minutes to reach 10 points as a team.

Here’s a recap of Flagg’s night against Incarnate Word on Tuesday.

Cooper Flagg points scored vs. Incarnate Word:

Flagg ended Tuesday’s game with six points, only making two of his eight shots from the floor after he didn’t put up an attempt in the second half. The versatile forward did end the night with eight rebounds, two assists, a block, and a steal.

Did Duke win?

Yes, the Blue Devils outscored UIW 44-25 in the second half for a 72-46 victory.

Cooper Flagg’s next game:

The Duke Blue Devils will return to the court on December 17 with another home game against the George Mason Patriots.

Duke basketball pushes through slow start against Incarnate Word for fourth straight win

Duke’s first half against Incarnate Word on Tuesday night wouldn’t win any beauty pageants, but a win is a win for the Blue Devils.

[autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and the Blue Devils didn’t earn any style points for their first-half performance against the Incarnate Word Cardinals on Tuesday night, but the Duke men’s basketball team eventually pulled it together for the 72-46 home victory.

After last week’s victories over the Auburn Tigers and Louisville Cardinals, Duke seemed like a runaway train with plenty of track to gain steam before the end of the calendar year. Besides, entering Tuesday’s game, UIW ranked 350th out of 364 teams in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency rating, and the Cardinals’ opponents accumulated an effective field goal percentage of 53.8%. If the Blue Devils could drop 84 points on the undefeated Tigers, surely there would be carnage in store at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

But college basketball, in the most predictable fashion possible, remains entirely unpredictable. The Blue Devils took 14 shots from the floor over the first nine minutes and only made four of them, and Duke didn’t break into double-digits until the 13:39 mark of the opening half.

Flagg, fresh off two straight 20-point double-doubles, looked unable to find a rhythm on the offensive end. The 6-foot-9 forward missed six of his eight first-half attempts, including a trio of relatively open 3-pointers, to only put four points on the board through the break. The normally reliable Blue Devils missed the mark on 11 of their 13 triples as Tyrese Proctor and Kon Knueppel combined to go two-for-seven.

Luckily for the Blue Devils, freshman 7-footer [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag] showed up to work. The center from South Sudan needed to play a larger role as forward Maliq Brown recovered from a toe injury, and Maluach didn’t shrink from that responsibility. He took advantage of his size all night, rolling toward the rim for lobs and bullying the Cardinals in the pick-and-roll game.

Maluach pulled the Blue Devils ahead through sheer willpower in the final six minutes of the half. He made three baskets and four free throws over the final 6:09 of the half, powering a 12-7 run to create a 28-21 advantage and give Scheyer a little breathing room.

Thankfully for the Cameron Crazies in attendance, the offense seemed to figure something out in the locker room. Maluach made a contested bucket on the opening possession, giving him three more quick points and starting a quick 11-0 run for the home team.

[autotag]Isaiah Evans[/autotag], who took over the first half against the Tigers last week, put on a similar show after the break. The five-star freshman showcased the same fearless shot selection and off-ball movement that haunted Auburn, finding free space on the court and getting 3-pointers off even with hands in his face, for 14 second-half points.

While the offense needed to wake up over the course of the, Duke’s stifling defense never skipped a beat. The Cardinals could have easily taken an early lead if they weren’t getting held to 3/18 from the floor over the first 12 minutes. UIW entered Tuesday’s game making more than 41% of its 3-pointers, but the Blue Devils never gave their opponents the space to breath in a 5/23 (21.7%) display from distance.

Duke, now 8-2 on the season, gets a full week off before a home game against George Mason on December 17.

Duke basketball phenom Cooper Flagg named the AP national player of the week

The Associated Press named Duke star Cooper Flagg the national player of the week after his two big games against Auburn and Louisville.

Superstar forward [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] already earned some conference hardware through his first month with the Duke men’s basketball team, but the 17-year-old freshman notched his first national award on Tuesday afternoon.

The Associated Press named Flagg its national player of the week on Tuesday thanks to the role he played in Duke’s wins over the Auburn Tigers and Louisville Cardinals.

Duke handed Auburn its first loss of the season last Wednesday with an 84-78 triumph in Cameron Indoor Stadium, and Flagg made plays all over the court to beat the Tigers. He ended that game with 22 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, three steals, and two blocks, leading the Blue Devils in all five categories for the night.

Flagg sat for a long stretch of the second half amid some foul trouble against the Cardinals on Sunday, but even in just 28 minutes, he shredded the Louisville defense for 20 points and 12 rebounds. As of Tuesday afternoon, he’s put together four 20-point performances and stacked four double-doubles in his first nine games.

The ACC already gave Flagg its Rookie of the Week honor for the two games, his third time winning that award in five weeks.

Is Maliq Brown playing today? Injury updates for the Duke forward

Duke basketball forward Maliq Brown is dealing with a toe injury. Here are the latest updates.

The Duke Blue Devils play their 10th game of the 2024-25 season and their third game in seven days on Tuesday night against Incarnate Word, so naturally, we’ve reached the point in the season when injuries start to emerge.

Duke stayed relatively healthy for the first month of the campaign, but the team announced its first major absence of the year when it declared Maliq Brown out with a toe injury against the Cardinals.

The Syracuse transfer has already made himself an indispensable part of the Blue Devils rotation. He hasn’t started a game yet, but he averaged 21.0 minutes across the first nine contests and led the team with 1.9 steals. He’s anchored the defensive end of the floor, constantly breaking up opposing plays and helping hold Auburn Tigers star Johni Broome to five points in the first half last week.

Here’s everything we know about Brown’s injury ahead of the midweek game against UIW.

How long will Maliq Brown be out?

The team ruled Brown day-to-day with his injury. Considering that the Blue Devils won’t play again until December 17 after Tuesday’s game, odds seem likely he’ll only miss the one night.

Duke forward depth chart

With Brown unavailable, five-star freshman [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag] will probably play more minutes than usual. The South Sudanese 7-footer has started all nine games for the Blue Devils, but he’s only played 17.3 minutes per night. Maluach hasn’t seen the floor for more than 15 minutes since the November 26 game against Kansas, but he’ll certainly jump over 20 minutes against UIW.

Fellow freshman Pat Ngognba II, another center in the 2024 recruiting class, will also probably play in Brown’s absence, but head coach [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] said Ngongba will be held on a strict minute count for his entire freshman season as he battles a foot injury.

Duke basketball phenom Cooper Flagg has been ‘as good as advertised,’ ESPN scout writes

Cooper Flagg entered the 2024-25 Duke basketball season with some ridiculous expectations, but one analyst still thinks he’s delivered.

Few college basketball freshmen have carried the expectations [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] brought with him to Durham this season.

Despite reclassifying to reach the Duke Blue Devils a year early, Flagg won a national title as a high-school senior before scrimmaging against the U.S. Olympic team at training camp this summer. Before he played a minute of college ball, analysts were calling him a generational talent and stamping him as the future No. 1 pick.

And yet, through nine games, Flagg has looked the part. At least, ESPN NBA draft analyst Jonathan Givony certainly thinks so.

“Flagg has been every bit as good as advertised,” Givony wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday. “His unwavering confidence and aggressiveness have been impressive in big moments, helping him maintain his standing atop our board.”

The first-year superstar leads the Blue Devils in scoring (17.0 points per game), rebounding (9.0), assists (3.8), and blocks (1.3), and he’s second on the team in steals (1.7). He’s played five major conference opponents this season, including three teams currently within the top 10 of the USA TODAY Sports men’s basketball coaches poll, and scored at least 20 points in four of those games.

Flagg recently won his third ACC Rookie of the Week award thanks to his consecutive 20-point double-doubles against the Auburn Tigers and Louisville Cardinals.

Coach K announced as 2025 Naismith Outstanding Contributors to Basketball Award winner

Legendary Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski added to the most decorated resume in the sport with another prestigious honor on Tuesday.

Duke basketball coach [autotag]Mike Krzyzewski[/autotag], affectionately known as Coach K, added to his laundry list of trophies and hardware on Tuesday when the Atlanta Tipoff Club named him as one of two 2025 Naismith Outstanding Contributors to Basketball Award Winners.

Krzyzewski joined longtime Notre Dame Fighting Irish women’s basketball coach Muffet McGraw as this year’s winners for the longtime award.

“Every year, we choose individuals who have made a profound impact on players and fans alike, truly embodying the spirit of basketball,” ATOC president Eric Oberman said in a release about the award. “It’s a privilege to honor these remarkable figures who dedicated their lives to fostering and advancing the game.”

Krzyzewski spent more than four decades coaching the Blue Devils, winning five national championships and reaching the Final Four 13 times. The program named the court at Cameron Indoor Stadium after him in 2000, and the city of Durham dubbed his commute ‘Coach K Highway’ this summer.

Coach K won 1,129 games in his 42 years with the program, and he even won a trio of Olympic gold medals as the Team USA head coach.

Duke basketball still can’t crack Joe Lunardi’s top four spots despite Auburn victory

The Duke Blue Devils have slowly put together a top resume, but longtime bracket expert Joe Lunardi still sees them as a No. 2 seed.

The Duke Blue Devils lifted their resume from good to great last week with a home victory over the undefeated Auburn Tigers, but ESPN bracket expert Joe Lunardi still needs a little more for the storied program to snatch back one of his four No. 1 seeds.

Lunardi released his updated bracket on Tuesday morning, and the Blue Devils occupied the No. 2 spot in the South region. The Tigers kept their grip on his top overall seed, also slated for the South, while the Tennessee Volunteers, Marquette Golden Eagles, and Iowa State Cyclones led the other three corners of the bracket.

None of those four teams have multiple losses like the Blue Devils, and two Kansas losses dropping the Jayhawks down to a No. 3 seed doesn’t help the argument. However, Marquette has only played one team within the top 12 of the KenPom efficiency rankings, and that resulted in a road loss to the Cyclones. Duke has played three teams in the top 11, including its Auburn win.

Lunardi paired Duke with the Little Rock Trojans for the first round, and should the Blue Devils avoid that upset, they’d play the winner of St. John’s and Texas Tech in the next game.

If the Cameron Crazies want a little good news, two major Duke rivals continue to fall in Lunardi’s eyes. The North Carolina Tar Heels have tumbled down to a No. 8 seed (interestingly enough, also in the South region) thanks to four early losses, and Caleb Love’s Arizona Wildcats are now the First Team Out after a 4-4 start.