Tag: George Mason Patriots

Duke star Cooper Flagg wins fourth ACC Rookie of the Week award

Duke freshman phenom Cooper Flagg picked up his fourth ACC Rookie of the Week award just two days after his 18th birthday.

Duke basketball phenom [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] picked up his fourth ACC Rookie of the Week award on Monday for his efforts in wins over George Mason and Georgia Tech.

Flagg scored 24 points against the Patriots on Tuesday, adding nine rebounds, four assists, and three steals in the comfortable victory. It was his third 20-point performance in four games after he notched 20 against the Louisville Cardinals and 22 against the Auburn Tigers earlier this month.

Saturday’s game against the Yellow Jackets fell on Flagg’s 18th birthday, and while he only managed 13 points in the road win, he tacked on four rebounds and two more assists in his second conference victory.

With only seven weekly awards handed out to this point, Flagg has now been named ACC Rookie of the Week more often than he hasn’t. He won the conference’s Player of the Week award once as well, the only freshman to do so this season.

Flagg is averaging 16.3 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.3 blocks through his first 12 games. He leads the Blue Devils in four of those five categories.

Where are the Duke Blue Devils in the ESPN BPI rankings after their George Mason win?

Check out where the Duke Blue Devils ended up in the ESPN Basketball Power Index after Tuesday’s win over George Mason.

The Duke Blue Devils extended their win streak to five on Tuesday night, but a 21-point victory over the George Mason Patriots wasn’t enough to keep them in place in the ESPN Basketball Power Index.

The Blue Devils dropped one spot to third in the ESPN analytics on Wednesday, a likely byproduct of them failing to score 30 first-half points for the second straight game. Duke has held three of its last five opponents below 50 points, failing to surrender more than 78 in a game this season, but the offense has only mustered 74.0 points per game during the win streak. Freshman sensation [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] scored 24 points, his fifth 20-point outing of the season, but Duke shot just 37.5% as a team.

The Auburn Tigers vaulted up three spots to first, the same spot they occupy in the KenPom rankings, after their 41-point win over Georgia State. The Houston Cougars still sit second on ESPN’s board despite a trio of early losses.

The Blue Devils are projected to win 26.5 games during the regular season, meaning ESPN thinks Duke could close the year on a 17-3 or even 18-2 run.

The best Duke basketball photos from Tuesday’s win over George Mason

Check out the best Duke basketball photos from Tuesday’s win over the George Mason Patriots.

For the last three weeks, the Duke men’s basketball team has cruised along and taken care of business against every opponent in its way.

The Blue Devils quieted the George Mason offense for a 68-47 victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Tuesday night, the team’s fifth straight win to reach 9-2 for the season. The offense as a whole struggled to find its mark, shooting just 37.5% from the field, but the Duke defense continues to make sure that any slow stretches on the other end of the floor don’t matter.

Freshman sensation [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] scored six points in the first three minutes of the second half to jumpstart a 15-4 run after the break, and the first-year forward ended up with 24 points for his fifth 20-point game of the year.

Check out the best Duke basketball photos from Tuesday’s win below.

How many points did Cooper Flagg score against George Mason?

Here’s how Duke freshman phenom Cooper Flagg performed against George Mason on Tuesday night.

The Duke Blue Devils extended their current win streak to five on Tuesday night thanks to yet another 20-point performance from freshman sensation [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag].

George Mason, the latest team to play at Cameron Indoor Stadium, brought one of the nation’s most efficient defenses to Durham, and Flagg initially struggled to get the ball through the hoop. The first-year forward only notched seven points in the first 20 minutes, a representative total for the 25-16 slugfest.

It’s hard to hold the best prospect in the nation in check for a complete game, however, and Flagg started to work his way toward the basket with ease once play resumed. He stacked six points in the first three minutes of the second half, powering a 15-4 run that helped give Duke an insurmountable lead.

Here’s a recap of Flagg’s fifth 20-point game of the season.

Cooper Flagg points scored vs. George Mason:

Flagg finished with 24 points on Tuesday, making five of his nine shots after halftime to finish 7/20 (35.0%) for the night. He tacked on nine rebounds, four assists, three steals, and a block for another well-rounded stat sheet.

Did Duke win?

Yes, the Blue Devils won 68-47 thanks to their 43 points after halftime. The Blue Devils held George Mason to 29.4% from the floor and generated 13 turnovers to hold the Patriots to such a modest total.

Cooper Flagg’s next game:

The Duke Blue Devils will return to the court on Saturday with a road game against Georgia Tech, their second ACC game of the season.

Duke basketball notches fifth straight win with defensive masterpiece against George Mason

The Duke Blue Devils won a battle of elite defenses at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Tuesday night with a 68-47 triumph over George Mason.

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.

Duke and George Mason bring two of the nation’s best shooting defenses to Tuesday’s game

The Duke Blue Devils play George Mason on Tuesday, and both teams are among the best in the country in this major defensive stat.

The Duke Blue Devils seek their fifth straight victory on Tuesday night when they host the George Mason Patriots, but [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and his teammates will need to win a defensive battle.

The Blue Devils haven’t allowed an opponent to score more than 78 points through their first 10 games, and they’ve held teams to 29.3% from behind the 3-point line. That defensive prowess adds up to a 42.4% effective field goal percentage allowed, the sixth-best mark in the nation according to KenPom’s database.

The Patriots happen to be one of the five teams above them.

George Mason, through its first 10 games, has held its opponents to a 41.8% eFG%, joining the Houston Cougars, Tennessee Volunteers, and Illinois Fighting Illini as the only teams below 42%. The Patriots have allowed 57.4 points per game during their current five-game win streak, and they’ve let opponents connect on just 27.5% of their 3-point attempts.

While the Duke offense has needed some time to find its rhythm recently, the Blue Devils still outrank their opponents on that side of the ball. Duke has averaged 79.7 points per game to George Mason’s 78.7 despite a much harder schedule, but each bucket will be earned at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Tuesday.

The game, which will air on ACC Network, tips off at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time.

Why does George Mason’s Darius Maddox sound familiar to Duke basketball fans?

Duke basketball fans with good memories (and long grudges) might recognize George Mason’s leading scorer, a former ACC transfer.

Darius Maddox didn’t join the George Mason program until the 2023-24 season, and the Blue Devils haven’t faced the Patriots since 2006. So why does the name sound familiar?

Maddox spent three seasons with the Virginia Tech Hokies before his time in Fairfax, and his old program actually beat Duke three times in four games during his time there.

The 6-foot-5 guard admittedly didn’t play a major role in most of those games, but his best performance came in the most impactful Virginia Tech victory. Maddox came off the bench for six points and five rebounds in the Hokies’ 82-67 upset of the Blue Devils in the 2022 ACC Tournament final.

The win punched Virginia Tech’s ticket to the NCAA Tournament, but more importantly, it denied legendary Duke coach [autotag]Mike Krzyzewski[/autotag] a walk-off conference title in his final season. It served as the middle act in a trio of storybook-ending losses that season, sandwiched between losses to the North Carolina Tar Heels in Coach K’s final home game and in the Final Four.

Maddox averaged 14.0 points in his first season with the Patriots last year, and he’s put together 14.9 points to lead the team so far in 2024-25. He’s dropped a season-high 20 in three different games, including a road loss to Marquette on November 8.

Duke basketball schedule: Are the Blue Devils playing today? 

Is Duke basketball playing today? Here’s a look at the schedule and the games to come. 

Will the Duke Blue Devils take the court on Tuesday?

Following a 72-46 victory over Incarnate Word last week, [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and his teammates enjoyed seven days off for the first extended break of the season. With a weekend of rest and relaxation under their belts, the Blue Devils return to the court at Cameron Indoor Stadium for a home game against the George Mason Patriots.

The battle pits two of the most efficient defenses in the country against one another. Duke has held each of its first 10 opponents under 80 points, and the Blue Devils sit sixth in the KenPom database with a 42.4% effective field goal percentage allowed on defense.

The problem? George Mason currently ranks fourth at 41.8%.

Flagg and his teammates hope to stack points against the Patriots anyway in search of a fifth consecutive win. Here’s a look at the upcoming Duke games, both Tuesday and in the near future.

Duke basketball upcoming schedule

  • Dec. 17: vs George Mason Patriots
  • Dec. 21: at Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
  • Dec. 31: vs Virginia Tech Hokies
  • Jan. 4: at SMU Mustangs
  • Jan. 7: vs Pittsburgh Panthers
  • Jan. 11: vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish
  • Jan. 14: vs Miami Hurricanes
  • Jan. 18: at Boston College Eagles
  • Record: 8-2

Fyre Festival 2.0? George Mason’s foreign tour to Bahamas cancelled

George Mason Patriots men’s basketball’s foreign tour to the Bahamas cancelled by The VII Group at the last minute.

In what is shaping up to be one of the wildest stories of the college basketball offseason, the George Mason men’s basketball program had a foreign tour to the Bahamas cancelled at the last minute.

The VII Group, who have operated tours for Georgia and Tulane in recent years, while operating the Holiday Hoopsgiving event in Atlanta, released a statement apologizing to George Mason for cancelling the tour on such short notice.

“It is with deep regret and sincere apologies that The VII Group announces the cancellation of the George Mason University Men’s Basketball team’s foreign tour to the Bahamas, initially scheduled for this summer. This unforeseen outcome is not only a profound disappointment to all involved but a failure that we at The VII Group take full accountability for.”

The Patriots were supposed to fly on Thursday and play their first game on Friday afternoon, neither which occurred. Foreign tours are popular among college programs during the summer, as a way for teams to bond and get some scrimmage action in against other opponents before the season.

After months of coordination by student-athletes, coaches, families, boosters, donors, and others, an inability to fulfill obligations by The VII Group led to this sudden cancellation – and no doubt some serious frustration for all parties involved.

Social media already made comparisons to the ill-fated Fyre Festival, a fraudulent luxury music festival started by Billy McFarland and Ja Rule that was also supposed to take place in the Bahamas and scammed people out of thousands of dollars.

Under coach Tony Skinn, George Mason went 20-12 last year and 9-9 in the A-10.

This story is continuing to develop.

Duke reportedly will host George Mason on December 17

According to Jon Rothstein, KD Johnson and the George Mason Patriots will be one of Duke’s last non-conference games in 2024-25.

The Cameron Crazies won’t know the full 2024-25 schedule for a while now, but one day on the calendar might have been revealed on Wednesday.

CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein, one of the foremost college basketball insiders, reported that the Blue Devils will host George Mason on December 17. He shared the news through X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

The Patriots would be one of the last non-conference games on Duke’s 2024-25 schedule if the report is accurate. During the 2023-24 season, the Blue Devils played their last non-ACC opponent on December 30.

Duke played George Mason once in school history, a 69-53 victory back in December 2006. Head coach Jon Scheyer actually scored 18 points as a freshman in that game, making four of his seven 3-point attempts.

Former Auburn guard KD Johnson committed to the Patriots last month. He averaged 7.1 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and 1.1 assists as a senior for the Tigers last season, but he made just 37.8% of his attempts and 27.1% of his threes.

The Blue Devils have also been linked to both Kansas and Illinois during the non-conference schedule, but neither game has been officially announced.