Tag: Khaman Maluach

Duke basketball defeats Caleb Love and Arizona thanks to Cooper Flagg’s 24 points

Cooper Flagg and the Duke Blue Devils picked up their first top-25 victory on Friday night with a 69-55 win over Arizona in Tucson.

The Duke Blue Devils avenged last season’s loss to Arizona on Friday night, defeating the Wildcats 69-55 in their own building behind a 24-point performance from star freshman [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag].

Arizona entered Friday night as one of the nation’s best rebounding teams, averaging 51.3 per game while giving up just 27.0, but the Blue Devils used their height to revert that trend in a big way. Every single member of the Duke rotation stands at least 6-foot-5, and forwards like Flagg, [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag], and Maliq Brown helped create an early advantage on the board.

The Blue Devils finished with 22 rebounds in the opening half while Arizona pulled down just 14. Despite the Wildcats recovering more than half of their misses for second-chance possessions in the first three games, they only grabbed one offensive rebound while shooting 11/26 (42.3%) from the floor.

Brown and Tulane transfer Sion James each finished the half with five boards, and three other Duke players snagged at least two. Duke ended the game with a 43-30 advantage on the glass, and the Blue Devils scored 14 second-chance points to Arizona’s eight.

One of Duke’s other big trends from last week’s loss to the Kentucky Wildcats stemmed from its 3-point shooting. Despite making more than 41% of their triples against their other three opponents, the Blue Devils went 4/24 (16.7%) in Atlanta during the five-point loss.

Tyrese Proctor buried two straight triples in the opening four minutes, and the rest of the team woke up over the closing stretch. The Blue Devils made five of their 13 second-half attempts from distance, including a trio from freshman [autotag]Kon Knueppel[/autotag], to finish the game at 38.5%.

After a slow start, the Wisconsin native looked like the ACC Rookie of the Week from the first two games after the break. The biggest of his three 3-pointers came with 3:56 on the clock when he hesitated for a moment before splashing a shot from a few feet behind the line, a dagger that turned the game into a 61-49 contest in Duke’s favor.

Flagg’s offensive dominance, however, was a trend that didn’t reverse from the Kentucky loss. After scoring 12 of Duke’s last 14 points against the Wildcats, the 17-year-old rattled off another long stretch as the engine on Friday. Flagg made a layup with 12:31 left on the clock to kick off a seven-minute stretch in which he scored all 10 of the team’s points, including a knockdown 3-pointer at the 8:20 mark.

Flagg scored 16 of his 24 points after halftime. Oh, and former North Carolina Tar Heels star Caleb Love? He made just three of his 13 shots, including one of his nine 3-point attempts, to finish with eight points.

Duke won’t get to bask in its first ranked win of the season for long. The Blue Devils head to Las Vegas for a Tuesday battle with the No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks.

Duke basketball dominates Wofford in best first-half performance under Jon Scheyer

The Duke Blue Devils bounced back with a Saturday win over Wofford behind a scoring avalanche during the opening half.

The Duke Blue Devils knew they wouldn’t erase any lingering questions from Tuesday’s loss to the Kentucky Wildcats with one game, but they sure tried with an 86-35 home victory over the Wofford Terriers.

After missing their first four shots of the afternoon, the Blue Devils caught fire and wouldn’t cool down until the midway point. Days after Duke made just four of their 24 3-point attempts as a team in Atlanta, Tyrese Proctor and Kon Knueppel made back-to-back triples to take the lead in the third minute.

Proctor, the only player who spent each of the past two seasons with head coach Jon Scheyer, roared out of the gates again. After he put together 10 points with two threes in the first 20 minutes against the Wildcats, he tallied nine of the Blue Devils’ first 14 points with an assist on top. He ended the opening frame with 12 points, nearly equaling the Terriers by himself, with two dimes.

After 17-year-old phenom [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] was the only Duke player to make a shot from the floor over the final 10 minutes against Kentucky, Scheyer and the Blue Devils took a different approach on Saturday. From the 15:01 to 5:28 marks in the first half, Duke outscored Wofford 27-2 thanks to eight different players getting to the basket.

Khaman Maluach, the freshman 7-footer, scored seven points in four minutes emphasized by an alley-oop dunk. Fellow first-year center Patrick Ngongba, making his collegiate debut, notched his first career points and won several rebounding battles. Isaiah Evans, yet another member of the 2024 recruiting class, tallied eight points and an assist in his first four minutes on the court thanks to a pair of 3-pointers.

Eleven different players took the court in the first half on Saturday. Nine of them scored at least two points, and eight of them recorded an assist. Despite Flagg only notching five points on five shots, the Blue Devils created a 51-14 advantage after 20 minutes for the largest halftime lead in Scheyer’s three years as head coach.

The Cameron Crazies could pick their favorite stat to detail Saturday’s dominance. Duke finished with 43 rebounds to Wofford’s 29. The Blue Devils recovered with a 16/38 (42.1%) performance from 3-point range. However blowouts can be quantified, Scheyer and his players checked the box. Flagg finished with just eight points, but he stuffed the stat sheet elsewhere with nine rebounds, six assists, two blocks, and three steals for his contribution.

The confidence from Saturday’s win will prove necessary in the coming 10 days. The Blue Devils get nearly a full week off before Saturday’s trip to Arizona for a battle with the Wildcats, and Duke plays top-ranked Kansas in Las Vegas just four days later.

Jon Scheyer calls the Duke basketball cramp problem ‘concerning’ after Kentucky loss

For the third time in three games on Tuesday night, a Duke basketball freshman left the game with cramps in the second half.

The Duke men’s basketball team lost to the Kentucky Wildcats on Tuesday night, a second-half collapse that saw the Blue Devils get outscored 24-11 over the final 10 minutes.

Freshman center [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag]’s absence played a big role in the late-game swing. The 7-foot-2 star finished with 10 points and seven rebounds, but he spent a large chunk of the second half on the bench as he dealt with cramps.

With Maluach needing to leave the game, cramps become an alarming trend for the first-year Blue Devils. Star forward [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] exited the first two games against Maine and Army with the same problem, and head coach Jon Scheyer sounded well aware of the connection after the game.

“Yeah, I mean, look, it’s concerning,” Scheyer said. “I think part of it is we have young bodies…Again, we’re not trying to just dip our toes in the water, we need Cooper to play a lot. And Khaman.”

“That’s something we’ve got to take a hard look at,” he concluded.

The Blue Devils host Wofford at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday, but the following two games come against Arizona on the road and Kansas at a neutral site. So the faster any potential problems get solved, the better.

Three Duke Blue Devils go within the top 10 of ESPN’s latest NBA mock draft

ESPN released a new 2025 NBA mock draft on Tuesday with a trio of Duke basketball stars within the first eight picks.

With a recruiting class as deep as the one Duke basketball coach [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] landed this offseason, NBA coaches and front offices will be keeping a keen eye on the Blue Devils in 2024-25.

Superstar forward [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag], the presumed top pick in the class, has looked the part of a franchise-changing talent even as he’s battled cramps through his first two games. The 6-foot-9 Maine native notably scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds before halftime against Army on Friday. However, two other five-star freshmen have made an impression, and according to ESPN analysts Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo, they remain strong lottery candidates.

Givony and Woo included a trio of Blue Devils among the top eight selections in their updated 2025 mock draft on Tuesday, and three older members of the roster made their larger rankings as second-round talents. Here’s a look at the Duke basketball stars with the highest draft stock after two games.

Cooper Flagg

Washington Wizards, No. 1 overall

Despite needing to sit for chunks of the second half against Maine and Army, Flagg has averaged 15.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.5 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game. He leads the Blue Devils in the latter three categories, and the passing prowess adds a wrinkle to his athleticism and defense. Even without leading the team in scoring, he’s somehow been as good as advertised. It’d be an upset if he wasn’t the top pick at this point.

Kon Knueppel

San Antonio Spurs, No. 6 overall

Knueppel emerged as the star of the offseason after teammates and analysts raved about his offensive playmaking and basketball IQ, and he proved them right by leading the Blue Devils in scoring against both the Black Bears and Black Knights. He’s averaged 18.5 points per game while making seven of his 14 3-point attempts, and he can catch and shoot or fire off the dribble with ease. On a team with at least four 40% 3-point threats, he’s the best shooter of all.

Khaman Maluach

New Orleans Pelicans, No. 8 overall

Maluach might not be stuffing the offensive stat sheet like Flagg and Knueppel through two games, but the 7-footer pulled down 10.0 rebounds and blocked 1.5 shots per contest in his first week with the Blue Devils. He put together his first double-double against Army, scoring 11 points to raise his scoring average to 8.5. If this draft destination comes true, he’d join former Duke basketball stars Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram in New Orleans.

Other Blue Devils on the prospect rankings

33. Caleb Foster (11.0 points, 3.0 assists)

35. Tyrese Proctor (12.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 50% 3PT)

51. Sion James (11.5 points, 2.5 assists, 2.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals)

Cooper Flagg ranked as the best men’s college basketball player by ESPN

Four Duke Blue Devils were included among ESPN’s preseason top 100 men’s college basketball players, including one at the very top spot.

ESPN released its preseason ranking of the top 100 men’s college basketball players on Monday, and four Duke Blue Devils made the list.

Returning starter Tyrese Proctor, who led the Blue Devils with 3.7 assists per game in 2023-24, appeared at 66th ahead of five-star freshmen Khaman Maluach (81st) and Kon Knueppel (97th), but another Duke basketball star finished much higher on the list.

[autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag], the top prospect in the freshman class, beat out North Carolina Tar Heels star RJ Davis for the No. 1 overall spot.

“There’s a world in which Flagg lives up to all the hype and produces a Carmelo Anthony-esque run, leading Duke to a national championship,” Jeff Borzello and Myron Medcalf wrote when explaining why Flagg got the top spot. “It’s within his range of outcomes. There’s nobody else in the country with that sort of ceiling.”

Flagg, who makes his regular-season debut on Monday night against Maine, averaged 15.5 points, 4.5 assists, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks in his two preseason exhibitions.

Duke vs. Kansas ranked as the best non-conference game of the college basketball season

College basketball analyst Andy Katz ranked his 10 best non-conference games of the 2024-25 season on Thursday, including three Duke games.

The Duke Blue Devils have one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country this upcoming college basketball season, and people around the country are taking notice.

College basketball analyst Andy Katz released his ranking of the top 10 non-conference games for 2024-25 on Thursday, and Duke’s game against the Kansas Jayhawks took the top spot.

Thanks to top-ranked freshman [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag], Olympian 7-footer [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag], and offseason darling [autotag]Kon Knueppel[/autotag], Duke’s stellar freshman class has the Blue Devils among the early favorites for the national championship. The Jayhawks, however, might be one of the only teams with better preseason odds as Kansas starts the year as the No. 1 team in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.

Despite their 23-11 record and a second-round NCAA Tournament exit in 2023-24, the Jayhawks reloaded with Alabama Crimson Tide guard Rylan Griffen and Wisconsin Badgers guard AJ Storr from the transfer portal. With that duo paired with 7-footer Hunter Dickinson, who joined Flagg on the preseason AP All-America team, Kansas looks like a juggernaut.

The two powerhouse programs meet in Las Vegas on November 26.

The Blue Devils’ December 4 game against the Auburn Tigers, a part of the ACC/SEC Challenge, came in ninth on Katz’s list and their February battle with the Illinois Fighting Illini at Madison Square Garden finished out the list at tenth.

Auburn starts the year 11th in the coaches poll while Illinois will start the season as the No. 24 team.

Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer explains what he thinks are his team’s biggest strengths

On Thursday episode of The Brotherhood Podcast, Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer gave his verdict on the Blue Devils’ biggest strength.

It feels impossible to determine the biggest strength of a team like the Duke Blue Devils. Between the talent of [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and the half-dozen other NBA prospects on the roster, there might not be anything the roster can’t do.

However, during a Thursday episode of The Brotherhood Podcast, head coach Jon Scheyer found an answer. While he praised the versatility and toughness of his team, he thinks the Blue Devils’ secret weapon is off the court.

“Our unselfishness as a team,” Scheyer told sophomore guard Caleb Foster, the host of the show. “I think that’s something you either have organically or you don’t. Feel we have a group that has it.”

“To me, that’s our biggest strength. Forget the skillset or the offense. You guys, man, I think there’s a connection there.”

If any Duke basketball fans want more of a tangible answer, however, the third-year Blue Devils coach circled back around to his team’s versatility.

“The fact that you have, on offense, multiple playmakers,” Scheyer said. “Multiple guys that can pass, shoot, and dribble, but then on defense, we have a team that can guard a lot of different positions.”

Considering that every single member of the Duke basketball rotation stands at least 6-foot-5, it’s easy to see why Scheyer thinks the Blue Devils have an answer for every question. Top-ranked freshman [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] can defend guards and forwards thanks to his 6-foot-9 frame and athleticism, and first-year 7-footer Khaman Maluach lets the tall Duke lineup take advantage of its size elsewhere.

The Cameron Crazies got a small glimpse of that versatility on Saturday during Duke’s first exhibition game of the year. The Blue Devils defeated Lincoln 107-56 thanks to 22 points from Flagg.

Duke basketball has more NBA talent than any other college program, ESPN says

According to a Saturday story from ESPN, the Duke Blue Devils have more NBA talent on their roster than any other college basketball team.

This won’t come as a surprise to any Duke basketball fans familiar with the 2024 recruiting class, but ESPN thinks that head coach [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] and the Blue Devils have more NBA talent at their disposal than any other college team.

In a Saturday ranking of the 10 teams with the most professional prospects on the roster, Duke took the top overall spot.

Any conversation about the NBA talent in Durham needs to start and finish with Cooper Flagg, whom ESPN draft analyst Jonathan Givony ranked as the best 2025 prospect with more than a 50% chance to be the first overall pick.

Fellow freshmen Kon Knueppel and Khaman Malauch finished sixth and eighth in Givony’s prospect rankings, and all three players looked the part of lottery picks during a Saturday exhibition against Lincoln. Maluach, a 7-foot-2 center from South Sudan, pulled down 11 rebounds while Knueppel made five 3-pointers in the first half en route to a 17-point game.

Flagg, the best of the bunch, scored 22 points with six assists and four blocks, including a resounding highlight in the opening minutes when he swatted a Lions’ layup off the backboard.

Junior Tyrese Proctor (19 points) and sophomore Caleb Foster (eight points) have both received first-round grades over the course of their careers, and five-star freshman Isaiah Evans scored nine points on Saturday.

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights, Arizona Wildcats, Connecticut Huskies, and North Carolina Tar Heels also finished with ESPN’s top five in the NBA talent rankings.

Kon Knueppel puts a Lincoln defender on a poster in the first Duke basketball exhibition

Duke basketball’s five-star freshman Kon Knueppel continued to make a name for himself with a thunderous dunk in Saturday’s exhibition game.

Few freshmen have captured the attention of the Duke basketball fandom as much as [autotag]Kon Knueppel[/autotag] so far this offseason, and the Knueppel hype train somehow gained even more steam during Saturday’s exhibition game against the Lincoln Lions.

The five-star freshman made five 3-pointers in the opening half against the Lions, but his most impressive moment came after the break. After a rebound by classmate [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag], Knueppel cut down the baseline toward the basket.

Maluach dished it to his teammate, and Knueppel jumped up and slammed the ball home over 6-foot-9 Lincoln forward Ethan Garita.

The coolest part about the play? Knueppel’s classmates celebrated harder than he did. [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag], the top-ranked player in the country, flexed as he stomped back up the court, and Maluach pumped his fists in triumph as he got back on defense.

ESPN draft expert Jonathan Givony ranked Knueppel as the sixth-best NBA draft prospect after watching a Duke basketball practice, and CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein singled out the Wisconsin native for how impressive he looked after a trip to Durham.

Duke starts the 2024-25 basketball season second in KenPom’s efficiency rankings

With the season around the corner, the Duke Blue Devils start the year second on popular analytics site KenPom’s preseason rankings.

Popular college basketball analytics website KenPom released its 2024-25 preseason rankings this week, and the Duke Blue Devils start the year second in the site’s adjusted efficiency margin.

With a loaded freshman class including [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag], the top player in the country, and three other five-stars, head coach Jon Scheyer assembled one of the deepest rosters in the country.

Returning starters Tyrese Proctor (10.5 points and a team-high 3.7 assists last season) and Caleb Foster (7.7 points, 40.6% 3PT) should anchor one of the most explosive offenses in the country. Those two said on The Brotherhood Podcast earlier this summer that the Blue Devils want to play with more tempo in 2024-25, and KenPom credits Duke as the seventh-best offense in the nation.

The real selling point, however, is the defense. Flagg and South Sudanese 7-footer [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag], who represented his country at the Olympic Games in Paris, should both be among the best defenders in the ACC immediately, and Syracuse transfer Maliq Brown gets high praise from his teammates and coaches.

KenPom considers Duke the third-best defense in the country, meaning the Blue Devils are one of four teams within the top 10 on both sides of the ball (Houston Cougars, Auburn Tigers, and Kansas Jayhawks).

Houston was the only team ranked above the Blue Devils, but the Cougars have the top spot by a considerable margin. The gap between Houston and Duke in second is smaller than the distance between Duke and seventh-ranked Iowa State.

The Tigers, Alabama Crimson Tide, and Connecticut Huskies took the remaining spots in the top five.